Alumni Fellow Spotlight: Charlie Pioli
Founder of O-Town Compost, Summer 2020 Rally Fellow
From Backyard Buckets to Regional Change: How O-Town Compost Is Rewriting Central Florida’s Waste Story
When Charlie Pioli first began collecting food scraps around Orlando, he drove a used Toyota Camry packed with five-gallon buckets. He composted in his own backyard—powered by conviction, not capital. “I knew we could do a better job diverting waste from the landfill,” he recalls. “Half of what we throw away is organic waste, and that’s where I wanted to focus.”
That determination turned into O-Town Compost, a community-rooted venture that began as a one-person operation and is now a $2 million regional enterprise serving households, schools, restaurants, and cities across Central Florida.
Finding the Right Platform
Charlie joined the Rally Social Enterprise Accelerator in 2021 after discovering other Orlando ventures that had found success through the program. “I was looking for a place that could expand my network and help me connect with people who shared my values,” he says. “Rally opened those doors.”
Through Rally, Charlie met John Rivers—founding Rally Maker and owner of 4 Rivers BBQ and 4 Roots Farm, one of Rally’s Innovation District Partners. That connection moved O-Town out of Charlie’s garage and into 4 Roots’ warehouse, where his team gained the space, infrastructure, and exposure to grow. “That partnership helped us go from startup to something established in the minds of Orlando,” he says.
Building a Regional Network
From that foundation, Charlie’s work began touching every part of Central Florida’s Living Lab:
Municipal Impact: The City of Winter Park engaged O-Town Compost to solve a food-waste problem in its Park Avenue restaurant corridor. The result—over 500,000 pounds of waste diverted and cleaner alleyways.
County Collaboration: With Osceola County, O-Town will manage a post-Halloween Pumpkin Drop program, keeping thousands of tons of pumpkins out of landfills.
Education Partners: Programs now operate across UCF, Valencia College, and Rollins College, teaching students how circular economies work in practice.
K–12 Systems: A new partnership with Orange County Public Schools has brought composting to 21 school cafeterias—with the potential to scale to all 260 schools in one of the nation’s largest districts.
Corporate & Nonprofit Links: O-Town continues to collaborate with 4 Roots Farm, event venues, and hospitality partners like the Orange County Convention Center.
What Success Looks Like
Today, O-Town runs eight trucks across Orlando, Tampa, and Gainesville, employing twelve people and proving that sustainability can be both mission-driven and profitable. Charlie’s journey—from hauling buckets to leading a regional operation—embodies what Rally’s Living Lab is all about: testing and scaling real-world solutions that make Central Florida cleaner, stronger, and more resilient.
