CompostNow launches hard-to-recycle pickup service

The North Carolina-based composting service provider will now manage the collection of items such as plastic film, electronics and more.

A CompostNow compost collection bag seated next to a new CompostNow hard-to-recycle collection bag, located on a front porch.

Image courtesy of CompostNow

Raleigh, North Carolina-based composting services provider CompostNow has launched a new hard-to-recycle pickup service designed to help homes and businesses recycle items that typically are not collected in curbside recycling programs, such as plastic film, small electronics, foam plastics and more.

Building on its established food scrap pickup service, CompostNow will manage the collection of the hard-to-recycle items and has says it has partnered with reputable organizations that will ensure the materials are properly recycled.

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“We’ve been listening closely to our members’ requests for an easy solution to divert their hard-to-recycle items from the landfill,” CompostNow Chief Operating Officer Kat Nigro says in a news release. “Our new service further supports community members in their resource recovery and diversion efforts. This effort aligns with our mission to continuously seek better and more accessible alternatives to landfills.”

CompostNow’s hard-to-recycle service allows individuals to pick and choose the specific items they want to divert from landfills, utilizing a source-separated recycling model that reduces contamination and enhances the recyclability of materials through trusted partners.

“We know recycling is complicated and recognize there is skepticism and mistrust,” says company CEO Justin Senkbeil. “With this new service, our promise is to be honest, transparent and communicative as we navigate the complexities of recycling. We’ve spent over a decade earning the trust and confidence of our compost services members and see this as an opportunity to bring ease and transparency to an otherwise confusing process.’

For subscribers of CompostNow’s home composting services, the company says hard-to-recycle items are collected alongside their compost bin. Those without a compost service subscription can schedule a one-time pickup through CompostNow. The current service area for this program includes Atlanta; Asheville, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, with plans to continue to evolve and expand this offering.

CompostNow was founded in 2011 as part of a national grassroots movement, and started out by collecting food scraps in personal vehicles and on bike-powered-routes before eventually becoming a diversified service provider that employs more than 90 team members across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Ohio. To date, the company says it has diverted more than 82 million pounds of food scraps from landfill, created more than 27 million pounds of compost and avoided more than 8 million pounds of methane.