Top: Tommy Vaughan, Growth Manager at WasteNot Compost
A new compost drop-off program in Urbana, Illinois is expanding local options for food scrap diversion while drawing strong early interest from residents. The year-round program, located at Lincoln Square Mall, was launched through a partnership between WasteNot Compost and Champaign County Environmental Stewards to provide a convenient way for residents to divert food scraps and other organic materials.
The site opened in late February. Participating residents can bring a wide range of compostable materials, including food scraps such as meat, bones, and dairy products, along with paper products and certified compostable packaging. The program is designed to make composting accessible even for households that do not have access to curbside organics collection.
Residents can subscribe to the program for $15 per month, gaining access to the secure drop-off enclosure. WasteNot Compost services the site regularly, transporting collected material to be processed into finished compost.
Local leaders say the program fills an important gap in the Champaign Urbana area, where composting options for residents have historically been limited. The partnership between a regional compost collection company and a nonprofit focused on waste reduction created an opportunity to quickly establish a community based solution. “This program will allow residents of the Champaign-Urbana area to have access to a compost program that accepts all commercially compostable items, including meat and BPI-certified products,” said Tommy Vaughan, Growth Manager at WasteNot Compost.
WasteNot is currently servicing the Urbana site from Chicago, using its electric fleet to transport material to Illinois EPA-permitted composting facilities in the Chicagoland area. While this approach enables the program to launch quickly, it also highlights the infrastructure gap in downstate Illinois. “We’re hopeful we’ll be able to return finished compost to the Champaign-Urbana community in the future, but end-market development depends on sustained participation,” Vaughan said.
The program itself was shaped by local demand. WasteNot was initially approached by Champaign County Environmental Stewards to explore commercial compost collection opportunities, and the two groups worked together to identify drop-off locations and promote the program.
Champaign County Environmental Stewards, the nonprofit partner behind the initiative, has long worked to improve local waste diversion options. The organization promotes recycling, composting, and safe disposal of household hazardous waste while advocating for local solutions to reduce landfill dependence.
Community-based drop-off programs like the Urbana site are increasingly being explored as an entry point for food scrap diversion in cities without municipal organics collection. They provide a relatively low-cost way to build resident participation and awareness while testing the logistics of collection and processing.
