The City of Greenbelt’s curbside food scrap collection program has been extended and new signups are now being accepted. Greenbelt households may register to participate in the program for a monthly fee of $10.
The program has been operating as a free service for the past 18 months through a pilot program grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that ended August 25. The pilot program was highly successful, and the Greenbelt City Council voted to continue the program through a combination of a city subsidy and a resident fee.
The total monthly cost of the extended program is $21.09 per household. Council authorized a city subsidy of $11.09 per month to cover the majority of the cost, while asking participating households to cover the remaining amount.
Council approval means that curbside food scrap collection will continue uninterrupted. Service will be provided through a contract with Compost Crew, a Rockville-based food scraps recycling business. Compost Crew’s standard rate for comparable service to an individual household is in the range of $30 per month, so the $10 household rate offered in the extended program represents a 66 percent discount for Greenbelt residents. Compost Crew’s website states its mission is “to eliminate food waste and revitalize the earth’s soil.”
Signup for the program is on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents can register on the Compost Crew website at compostcrew.com/greenbelt or by scanning the QR code below.
Residents without access to digital media may sign up by calling Compost Crew Customer Service at 301-202-4450 or Luisa Robles, City of Greenbelt coordinator for the program, at 240-542-2153. Once registration is complete, Compost Crew will contact new participants about scheduling delivery of a food scrap collection bin and the start of pickups. There is a one-time $20 charge to purchase the bin.
The program is open to all Greenbelt residents. Households may join individually or in combination with neighbors to help fill the seven-gallon bin for weekly pickup. Residents are welcome to share bins to reduce per-household cost and maximize use of individual bins.
Weekly collection service will remain the same. Food scraps from Greenbelt will continue to be processed into compost nearby at Compost Crew’s Compost Outpost facility, located at Trinity Assembly of God Church on Good Luck Road. Finished compost will be available for return to Greenbelt at a discounted rate.
Compost is a nutrient-rich soil additive that can be used to improve soil quality in garden plots and household plants. Compost Crew’s finished compost is registered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture and exceeds all acceptable standards. Lab test results show high quantities of valuable nutrients in the finished compost, and it is rated as having reached ideal maturity.
Composting also will reduce food waste going to the landfill, thus reducing the tipping fees and lowering greenhouse gas emissions coming from the landfill. The program decreases food waste in general and returns a valuable resource to the community.
The successful pilot program featured a high rate of weekly household participation and excellent resident cooperation in placing the correct items in the compost bins.
Kristie Blumer, composting director for Compost Crew, wrote in an email following one Greenbelt collection: “I have led the composting division since its infancy and this was the cleanest and easiest residential load I have ever received.” Eric Raun, coordinator for Henry’s Hollow community garden, described the finished compost received as “of excellent quality. All the gardeners who I talked to in Henry’s Hollow were very pleased.”
Mark Gordon characterized his household’s participation in the program as follows: “We have been on board since the initial test program started last year and have been so happy with every aspect of it. We can compost all of our food scraps and have them picked up. The company who is conducting the pickup and the process have been absolutely amazing. … We have been spreading the word with our neighbors, working on getting them on board composting.”
Another participant, Sue Zwicker, noted, “I love the convenience of the curbside composting.”
