Environment Recycling & Waste The Best Composting Services By Kiah Treece Kiah Treece University of Toledo College of Law University of Florida University of Miami Kia Treece is a writer, scientist, and sustainability coach specializing in environmental policy, off-grid living, zero waste, and vegan lifestyle. She holds a J.D. with a certificate in Environmental Law from the University of Toledo. Learn about our editorial process Updated April 12, 2021 Fact checked by Elizabeth Brownfield Fact checked by Elizabeth Brownfield University of Iowa Elizabeth Brownfield is a writer, editor, and researcher who specializes in food, travel, home, and lifestyle content. Learn about our fact checking process Share Twitter Pinterest Email Recycling & Waste Zero Waste Plastics We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Treehugger / Design by Amelia Manley The 9 Best Composting Services of 2022 Best Overall: WasteNot Compost Best in New York: Reclaimed Organics Best in Washington, DC: Compost Crew Best in Charlotte: Crown Town Compost Best in Orlando: O-Town Compost Best in Nashville: Compost Nashville Best in Austin: Break It Down Best in Denver: Scraps Best in Los Angeles: Compostable Best Overall: WasteNot Compost Wastenot Compost Learn More WasteNot Compost is a zero-emissions composting company that offers year-round service to homes, businesses, and events in and around Chicago. After a customer signs up online, WasteNot drops off a five-gallon bucket at their home or business to fill during the week. WasteNot then picks up the bucket(s) on the scheduled service date and leaves a clean bucket and fresh liner. Clients can choose from one of two service options: one bucket with bi-weekly service for $12 per pickup or one bucket with weekly pickup for $10 per visit. Multi-unit residential service is also available for custom pricing, and WasteNot will create a custom composting program to meet the needs of your business. Best in New York: Reclaimed Organics Reclaimed Organics Learn More Our top pick in NYC is Reclaimed Organics, which offers residential and commercial pick-up service in Manhattan. Pick-up service costs $20 per bucket south of 57th Street and $25 per bucket between 57th Street and 110th Street. Drop-off services are also available, so check the website for current locations. Reclaimed Organics’ commercial services are priced based on the business’s needs and the size of collection containers. Customers receive notification of the neighborhood collection day and time so they can leave their buckets outside. Once picked up, the food waste is collected and composted, then used at community gardens. Best in Washington, DC: Compost Crew Compost Crew Learn More Compost Crew is located in Rockville, Maryland, and provides composting services to thousands of residences, businesses, and events throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Residential pickup is available for homes, multi-unit, communities, and entire municipalities and starts at $32 per month for weekly pickup—although this number may be lower in popular areas. Business service is available with custom pricing, and customers can also hire Compost Crew to help host zero-waste events. The DC area benefits from many composting services. Still, we love Compost Crew because of its company values, which include constantly innovating to serve better the zero waste goals of local clients and communities. They’ve already composted tens of millions of pounds of organic material in their pursuit of a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. Best in Charlotte: Crown Town Compost Crown Town Compost Learn More Crown Town offers pickup service to most homes and businesses in Mecklenburg County but also has two drop-off locations for those outside of the service area. Residential composting starts at $30 per month for weekly pickup and includes a clean 3.5-gallon bucket each week; drop off service is available for $20 per month. Crown Town provides 64-gallon containers for businesses and can build quotes to meet specific commercial needs. We included Crown Town on our list because of the team’s dedication to sustainability within the community. Not only do they provide all clients with one 40-pound bag of compost each year, Crown Town gives each customer the option to instead donate their compost to a local community or school garden—plus Crown Town matches every donation! Best in Orlando: O-Town Compost O-Town Compost Learn More Like composting services in other markets, O-Town Compost delivers a five-gallon bucket to your house when you start service. They then pick up your full bucket every week or every other week and exchange it for a new clean bucket. Weekly pickups cost $30 per month and bi-weekly service is $22 per month. Then, every six months, O-Town Compost delivers 20 pounds of compost for you to use in your yard or garden. We love O-Town Compost because—in addition to offering residential and office compost pickup—the team provides food waste recycling for events and helps customers host zero-waste events. This service includes everything from initial consultation to on-site compost and recycling bins, compostable serving ware, and food waste processing. Plus, any compost created from the event is donated to a local agriculture project chosen by the client. If you prefer to keep your compost to use at home, request a free composter from the City of Orlando. Best in Nashville: Compost Nashville Compost Nashville Learn More Compost Nashville provides composting services to both residential and commercial customers in the Nashville area. For $35 per month, residential customers receive a four-gallon compost bin to fill and place outside for pickup once a week. Customers can add additional bins for $5 each and get a fridge magnet with a list of compostables and a bumper sticker to share their love for composting with the community. Then, twice a year, Compost Nashville customers receive compost for their home gardens and have the option of donating it to local gardens in need. Commercial service starts at $130 per month and includes weekly pickup of a 65-gallon collection bin. As part of the service, businesses also receive an annual Waste Diversion Summary, a storefront window sticker, and a featured spot on the Compost Nashville website. Most importantly, compost created from commercial waste is donated twice a year to a local farm, community garden, or other local organization. Best in Austin: Break It Down Break It Down Learn More Break It Down operates seven days a week to help commercial clients reduce their waste through composting and recycling services. In addition to collecting standard compostable food waste, Break It Down accepts meat, bones, and compostable serving ware, making it a full-service option for local businesses. Break It Down also provides customers with fully sealable bins and can deliver clean bins weekly or even daily to help avoid odors in your business. Unlike many other composting services, Break It Down is also a full-service recycling service. Businesses can request 96-gallon roll carts to store on their property to collect glass, cardboard, plastics, metal, and paper—plus less commonly accepted plastic films and aseptic containers. Break It Down also has a free cardboard dropoff location that’s available to the public five days a week. Many of Austin’s residents can also take advantage of the city’s Curbside Composting Collection program. Best in Denver: Scraps Scraps Learn More Scraps provide composting services for residential, office/commercial, and restaurant clients in several neighborhoods within Denver. Residential service starts at $25 per month and is focused on multi-family buildings with more than seven units—because these are the residents excluded from the city’s composting program. Service is also available for restaurants and other businesses and starts at $150 per month. Our favorite part about Scraps is that compost is collected on bicycles, making it a low carbon way to contribute to sustainability within the Denver community. Customers in Denver, Littleton, Stapleton, and Wheat Ridge can also bring their compost buckets to drop-off locations for $15 per month for one location or $18 per month for access to all four drop-off sites. Best in Los Angeles: Compostable Compostable Learn More Unlike other composting services on our list, Compostable only provides residential service. Monthly membership costs $30 per month for bi-weekly pickup and $45 per month for weekly pickup. All customers are also charged a one-time setup fee of $14 that covers the initial cost of a four-gallon compost bucket and sawdust packet (to reduce pests, odor, and mold). Sawdust packets are automatically included in subsequent deliveries for an additional $2 per month and can be canceled at any time. Compostable is our top pick in LA because of its dedication to the community and partnership with Compost LA, which maintains a network of 28 neighborhood farming and composting locations. Since its inception, Compostable has returned 71,934 pounds of organic matter to the soil and has produced a 103,589-pound greenhouse gas offset. How We Chose the Best Composting Services Composting services are highly localized businesses so we selected the best options in several top markets. When evaluating the best composting services, we considered several factors including cost, convenience, and breadth of service. Where possible, we only included composting services that offer both residential and commercial pickup but this was not always possible. We also chose providers based on other eco-friendly features like using zero-emission vehicles and donating compost to local gardens and other community development initiatives. Based on that, our best local option overall is WasteNot Compost in Chicago. Not only is WasteNot zero emissions, but customers also benefit from flexible and budget-friendly pickup options and custom business solutions.