Barrington pilot diverts 21 tons of food waste in first months; town plans more outreach to fill remaining slots

Stella Piasecki of the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District updated the council on Barrington’s residential curbside compost pilot, which launched Sept. 18, 2025. The program currently has 324 of 500 available participant spaces, and hauler Black Earth Compost has collected material from 3,957 bins. Piasecki said contamination levels have been very low and the town has diverted about 21 tons of food waste from the landfill (roughly a ton per week since the pilot began).

Based on the diverted tonnage and the town’s landfill tipping fee of $63 per ton, staff estimated roughly $1,373 in tipping-fee savings so far; Piasecki cautioned that savings will grow as participation increases. A participant survey returned 128 responses; respondents said the program strengthened their composting knowledge and that nearly all want the town to continue municipal composting after the pilot ends.

Council members asked about outreach and adding more participants. Piasecki said the outreach plan includes a temporary pause in January followed by a February mailer and expanded promotion; Black Earth will provide one free bag of finished compost per participant per year and is the hauler selected for its capacity and final-product quality. Piasecki noted Rhode Island’s lone landfill is projected to reach capacity in 2046, and argued municipal composting helps extend landfill life and reduce statewide disposal costs.

What’s next: The pilot continues; the town will resume outreach in February and consider how to scale or subsidize the program in future budgets.