New Bedford Launches New Curbside Composting Program to Save Crapo Hill Landfill

New Bedford residents are being asked to change how they dispose of trash to reduce the amount of waste sent to the Crapo Hill Landfill. For its part, the city is taking steps to expand the life of the quickly filling dump.

The Mitchell Administration has announced a new partnership with the Greater New Bedford Regional Refuse Management District (GNBRRMD) and Black Earth Compost "to launch a new curbside food scrap collection incentive program for New Bedford residents."

The program asks residents to "reduce household trash by having food scraps collected directly from their homes and transformed into nutrient-rich compost."

Curbside Composting Incentives and Starter Kits

To encourage participation in the as-of-now voluntary program, the first 100 willing participants will be provided with GNBRRMD starter kits, which include:

• One 13-gallon wheeled curbside cart and a roll of BPI-certified compostable liners
• One 2-gallon Sure-Close kitchen countertop bin
• Six-month supply of BPI-certified compostable kitchen bin liners
• One cubic-foot bag of Black Earth Compost potting soil

New Bedford Adopts Voluntary Pay-As-You-Throw Food Waste Collection

Residents can sign up for the program by visiting the Black Earth Compost website.

Composting Pricing and Subscription Options

Black Earth Compost charges a fee to collect food waste. Weekly collection costs $21.99 per month or $119.99 for six months. Every-other-week collection is $17.99 per month or $94.99 for six months.

For more food waste diversion options, visit newbedfordrecycling.org or contact trashandrecycling@newbedford-ma.gov.

This is not New Bedford's first rodeo with food waste collection. Food scrap waste collection was common not long ago. Back in the day, when organized trash collection first began in New Bedford, there were rules to be followed, or your trash would not be picked up.

Crapo Hill Landfill Expansion Plans

Meanwhile, GNBRRMD is awaiting state approval on a proposal to expand disposal capacity at Crapo Hill by building a seventh waste disposal cell. The multi-acre basin, lined with an impermeable barrier and other engineering controls to safely contain solid waste, would increase the landfill's volume by 750,000 cubic yards, increasing the life of the landfill by several years.