Top Photo: Courtesy of CompostNow
Residents of Chamblee, Georgia, now have a new option for keeping food scraps out of the landfill through an opt-in curbside composting program approved by the city in partnership with CompostNow.
The new service gives participating households access to regular curbside collection of food scraps and other accepted compostable materials, expanding residential composting access in a part of metro Atlanta where curbside organics collection is still emerging. The Chamblee City Council considered the partnership with CompostNow in June before moving forward with the program. Households pay $19/month for the collection service.
The launch adds Chamblee to a growing cluster of DeKalb County communities experimenting with residential food scrap collection. Nearby Avondale Estates recently completed a two-year curbside composting pilot that diverted more than 136,000 pounds of food waste, while Decatur expanded its own partnership with CompostNow into a citywide opt-in curbside service earlier this year.
CompostNow’s residential programs typically provide participants with containers for collecting food scraps at home and curbside pickup service. Accepted materials include fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, dairy, bones, coffee grounds, paper products and BPI-certified compostable items.
The Chamblee program is voluntary, giving residents who want food scrap collection an alternative to disposal without requiring the city to immediately establish universal organics service. The opt-in model can also help cities measure participation and collection demand before deciding whether broader municipal investment is warranted. The City of Chamblee does not subsidize the cost of the weekly collection service.
DeKalb County officials are also considering funding for a compost feasibility study and residential collection pilot as part of a broader solid waste planning effort. Proposed sanitation fee changes specifically identify composting research and residential collection as potential uses of future funding.
