Salem Offers Curbside Compost Incentive To Boost Program Participation

SALEM, MA — Salem is looking to boost its curbside compost recycling participation by offering a free bin to up to 150 residents who sign up for the Black Earth Compost service.

The residents will receive the 13-gallon bin that can be used to collect meats, bones, pumpkins and napkins and keep them out of the city's trash stream. A full list of compostable items can be found here.

Residents utilizing this service will receive a voucher for a cubic-foot bag of finished compost in the spring, as well as discounts on bulk compost and soil blends.

"Diverting food waste from the trash and instead composting is the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Waste Reduction Coordinator Janelle Rolke said. "Our goal is to grow the curbside compost program in Salem. Once the city has over 1,000 subscriptions, the weekly and bi-weekly cost for the curbside compost program will decrease for each subscriber."

Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said diverting the compostable material from the solid waste stream will help minimize disposal costs for the city, as well as being better for the environment.

"This program will encourage and enable more Salem households to join our community effort to keep our city clean and reduce costs," Pangallo said.

Residents can enroll in the program here. The current pricing through Black Earth Compost for weekly compost pick-ups in Salem is $114.99/year or every other week for $89.99/year.

A free compost drop-off station located at Mack Park is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so residents can drop off their food waste at a time that is convenient for them. Pangallo's office said the city is working to additionally identify other sites for public composting drop-off.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)