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Decatur to start CompostNow pilot Sept. 15 for 100 households; contamination fees and logistics highlighted
Summary
The city signed an agreement with CompostNow to start a food-organics pilot on Sept. 15 for roughly 100 households, accepting food and paper (no yard waste). Staff warned contamination over 5% triggers high fees and said the pilot will focus on outreach and data collection before scaling.
City sustainability staff told the commission that Decatur’s CompostNow pilot is now contracted and scheduled to begin Sept. 15 for about 100 participating households. The pilot will accept food organic waste and paper only; yard waste is excluded because pesticide contamination and the grant-funded single truck make separate collections infeasible.
"We are aiming for the date of September 15," the sustainability coordinator said, and staff have sent updated guidelines and an onboarding survey requiring participants to confirm they’ve read the rules by Sept. 8.
Staff explained the contract includes contamination fees that escalate steeply above 5 percent; rejected loads are sent to landfill and could cause the program to pause while staff reevaluate. Decatur will collect per-pickup weights and contamination data at a staging facility to track weekly volumes and shape future recommendations.
The pilot is structured as an educational, research-oriented collaboration with CompostNow; staff said the private vendor may lose some customers to the city pilot and that the city will monitor whether municipal collection or vendor-handled collection is a better long-term model.
Next steps: staff will run the two-month learning period, collect contamination and weight data, and return to the commission with findings before any expansion to citywide service.
