Somerville Launching New Composting Program

SOMERVILLE, MA — The city has announced a partnership with curbside composting company Garbage to Garden in an effort to facilitate compost disposal for residents.

The pilot program will offer curbside food waste collection for up to 1,200 households in East Somerville. The goal of the pilot program is to see if municipal composting can be beneficial toward its climate resilience goals and ultimately be expanded to the entire city.

In order to be eligible for the free program, residents must live in a building with six units or fewer and not already have an active curbside composting subscription. Participating community members will receive a kitchen container and curbside composting bin that will be picked up on respective trash and recycling collection days. According to the city’s Consumption-Based Emissions Inventory, food waste is the single largest source of resident carbon emissions within Somerville, outpacing both transportation as well as heating and residential electricity use.

The enrollment form for the program has yet to be released.

Garbage to Garden is a waste management service that originated in Portland, Maine. It serves over 40,000 households, schools, restaurants, businesses, and events throughout Maine and Massachusetts.