This case study was originally published in Keep Compost Local, a report offering survey data, case studies, and policy recommendations to equip governments to collaborate with local composters and foster community prosperity.
Municipality and Interviewees: District of Columbia Department of Public Works, Rachel Manning, Program Analyst, Office of Waste Diversion, and Ashlea Smith, Program Analyst, Office of Waste Diversion
Community Composters: Compost Crew (Dan Israel, Senior Vice-President, Residential & Municipal Programs) and Compost Cab
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
The District of Columbia (the District) has public-private partnerships with two Washington, D.C. area community composters, Compost Crew and Agricity (doing business as Compost Cab). In 2022, the DC Department of Public Works (DC DPW) awarded a contract to Compost Crew to provide collection for the District’s residential curbside pilot — now an established food scraps collection program.
Separately, Compost Cab has a contract with DC DPW to collect food scraps dropped off at the District’s new “smart bin” locations. The food scraps smart bins are accessed via the MetroKEY app or an easy-to-remember key code available on DC DPW’s website. Servicing of the smart bins was rolled into Compost Cab’s existing contract to operate the free food scraps drop-off events (12 in total: 11 year-round and one seasonal) at select farmers’ markets and community sites citywide.
Municipal Motivation & Program Evolution
The District’s Zero Waste DC Plan includes 2040 goals for an 18% citywide reduction in the solid waste stream, a citywide waste diversion rate of 80%, and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 1.38 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Diverting food scraps from disposal is part of the Zero Waste DC Plan. Currently, solid waste from the District is hauled to an incinerator in Lorton, Virginia; a portion is landfilled in regional landfills.
Initiatives to manage food scraps include:
Promotion of home composting (both hot composting and worm composting)
The Community Composting Cooperative Network organized by the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)
Two programs coordinated by the DC DPW
The citywide Food Waste Drop-Off Programs comprising the weekend food scraps drop-off events and the 24/7 accessible food scraps smart bins
Residential Food Waste Collection Program, which services 9,000 households as of August 2025
Accepted materials are harmonized among DC DPW’s food scraps programs. DC DPW’s food scraps drop-off and collection programs accept a wide range of food scraps and food-soiled paper. In 2024, the DC DPW Office of Waste Diversion decided to include meat, bones, and dairy in the food scraps accepted at its drop-off locations to help with consistency across the drop-off and collection programs. “There was a period in 2023 when the curbside pilot started, but we hadn’t made the switch to accepting all food scraps at the drop-off sites,” explains Rachel Manning. “That was due to the contracts we had for drop-off. When those expired, we were able to add in meat, dairy, and bones [into our new arrangement].”
About $4.3 million was budgeted for one-time funding of a 12-month curbside pilot for 9,000 single-family households, which includes dwellings with up to three units. The program is free to participate for residents. Collection services began in August 2023. An equal number of slots for pilot participants was created across the eight wards of the District. As part of the pilot, households received a 5-gallon screw-top collection bucket, a countertop caddy, and a supply of BPI-certified compostable bags.
After the 12-month pilot ended, the program transitioned to the Compost DC Food Waste Collection Program (FWCP), i.e., it was no longer a pilot. The FY2025 District budget allocated roughly $3 million to support the program. Currently, new participants are added as residents move or opt out of the program. DC DPW is transitioning to larger 7-gallon containers in response to participant and operational feedback.
“Operationally, it was a challenge in terms of routing efficiency for collection in all eight wards,” says Manning. “We worked together with Compost Crew using stopSuite routing software, based on a five-day basis.” Each ward of the District was divided into four or five days, so there is a driver in each ward on most collection days. Some of the wards with smaller numbers of participants only have collection two to three days a week. Compost Crew provides the Office of Waste Diversion with monthly reports for each ward that tally the tonnage collected, the number of set-outs, and the level of contamination. “Since collection started in 2023, 65% of households on any given day have their bins out,” she adds.
We needed to determine operationally what would work best from the District’s perspective — including what the District would need to invest to provide the same service that a contractor would do. While DC DPW had the ability to do the pilot inhouse, the cost was so large, and we ran the risk of buying trucks and other collection equipment for a program that may or may not succeed.
Rachel Manning, Program Analyst, Office of Waste Diversion, District of Columbia Department of Public Works
Contractual Arrangements
In 2017, as DC DPW was rolling out the drop-off program at select farmers’ markets citywide, it conducted a feasibility study to evaluate options for a curbside pilot. “The purpose of the feasibility study was to learn what a residential curbside collection program might look like,” says Manning. “It took a number of years between that study and when we were able to get funding in the FY2023 budget to seek a contractor for collection services for a one-year pilot project. We needed to determine operationally what would work best from the District’s perspective — including what the District would need to invest to provide the same service that a contractor would do. While DC DPW had the ability to do the pilot inhouse, the cost was so large, and we ran the risk of buying trucks and other collection equipment for a program that may or may not succeed.”
Compost drop-off site. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
The initial contract for the pilot in 2023 was for one year. The City issued an Invitation for Bid, and, in July 2023, awarded the contract to Compost Crew with Compost Cab as a subcontractor. The next contract was for a one-year sole-source contract to continue services with the existing contractor (Compost Crew), issued in July 2024. Both contracts were signed later than the issue date because contracts larger than $1 million require the District Council’s approval.
Compost Crew’s initial contract to provide collection services for the curbside pilot was a one-year contract for a not-to-exceed amount of $4.27 million. “This number represents the maximum value of the contract,” explains Dan Israel of Compost Crew. “Initially, the RFP was for 12,000 homes, but the District did not reach the participation limits in some wards, so the overall total was closer to 9,000 homes.” The contract included assembly and distribution of the starter kits (5-gallon bucket, kitchen caddy, educational materials, compostable bags), weekly collection (about $3.6 million of the total amount), hauling and tipping the collected organics at the Prince George’s County Organics Composting facility in Maryland, and provision of one 5-pound bag of compost to participating households. Compost Crew created 5-pound bags of Farm Feast, its own finished compost, to meet this requirement.
In spring 2025, DC DPW issued an RFP for collection services for the FWCP. It includes one base year term plus four option years for renewal. The City expects to award the contract in fall 2025.
Food scrap smart bin. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
As for food scraps drop-off (including collection from smart bins), DC DPW’s contract with Compost Cab is one base year plus four option years. The contract is currently in the base year, with a value of about $613,000. “Contractually, for the smart bins, Compost Cab has to service them at least twice a week,” notes Ashlea Smith. “The bins are equipped with optical sensors that determine the height of materials in the bin. When the height reaches a certain point, which indicates a certain fullness level, an alert is sent to our office and the contractor to service it.”
Manning adds that the District has the right to renew or discontinue these contracts through written notice to the contractor at least 30 days before the end of the base year or each option year up to four option years. After the four option years, the contract must be re-solicited (i.e., the contract is for a maximum of five years).
Public Policies to Support Infrastructure
Food waste bins with instructions. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
To provide some guarantee of infrastructure permanence for food scraps diversion, the City Council has passed several acts over the years. For example, the Compost Drop-Off Program Act of 2016 created the District’s Food Waste Drop-Off program. The Act directed the DC DPW to establish one drop-off site in each ward to operate year-round. In 2018, the City Council amended the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act of 2014 — which required the District to develop a plan to achieve an 80% diversion rate from incineration and landfilling — by passing the Home Composting Incentives Amendment Act. The Act includes rebates to “encourage residential property owners and lessees to purchase and use a home composting system.” The rebate is up to $75 per residence. However, this program is currently paused due to limited programmatic staff capacity to oversee the rebates.
Currently, the District does not have requirements for residential food scraps recycling, although that is written into the Zero Waste DC Plan to be acted upon, notes Smith. The District’s largest commercial generators of food scraps had to begin separating their food scraps for recycling, starting in January 2023. While not currently on the books, “a disposal ban on food scraps in the regular trash could trigger a requirement that would apply to all sectors, including residential,” says Smith.
Composting Activity
7-gallon food waste collection bin. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
The food scraps collected at drop-off locations, as well as most of the curbside material collected by Compost Crew, are composted at the Prince George’s County Organics Composting Facility in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The facility, which processes over 50,000 tons per year of material, utilizes the GORE engineered cover system for composting food scraps blended with yard trimmings. It is operated by Maryland Environmental Services (MES) under a contract with Prince George’s County.
Outreach & Education
“Oops” tag to flag contamination. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
The Office of Waste Diversion is managing all communications for its food scraps diversion programs, including curbside collection. Questions are answered via a city Call Center and in detailed FAQs on the collection and drop-off webpages. “The only education Compost Crew is responsible for is using ‘oops’ tags for contamination in the curbside container,” explains Manning. “The drivers will put an oops sticker on a bin.” In other municipal programs that Compost Crew services (see Greenbelt, Maryland, case study), the company conducts the outreach and education to households. “Having the municipality as the ‘middle person’ between the vendor and the household can be a challenge, especially if the outreach has been limited,” notes Dan Israel. “Messaging to households has to be [done] continually.”
DC Food Waste Collection welcome packet. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
DC DPW reaches out to households that are not setting out their containers via “reengagement emails.” Households that don’t participate after the additional outreach are automatically opted out of the program. “Bin recovery with that is a challenge,” says Manning.
Costs & Benefits: District of Columbia
The DC DPW provides trash and collection service to approximately 105,000 households in the District; therefore, the curbside program is available to less than 10% of those who could be eligible. Buildings with four or more units comprise about 75% of the housing stock in the District, thus the overwhelming majority of residents are not eligible for curbside service, notes Smith. “That gap is one of the reasons that led the Office of Waste Diversion to roll out the smart bins this year,” she says. “There are a total of 31 around the District.”
Since the pilot year, the Mayor’s budget has included funding to continue the curbside service to 9,000 households. “Last fiscal year [FY2025], it was a line item for about $3 million,” says Manning. “That amount enables us to maintain the program for 9,000 households. For FY2026, Mayor Bowser’s budget includes an additional $2.3 million to expand the program to a total of 12,000 households. How much curbside service ultimately expands is in question at this point. The goal is ultimately to provide service to as many of the 105,000 households eligible to participate.”
The curbside program collects an average of 90 tons of food scraps per month. About 30 tons per month is collected at the food scraps drop-off events (e.g., farmers’ markets); the smart bin collection averages 25 tons per month.
Currently, partnering with a community composter that knows what it is doing and can easily expand its business model is working for the District, given the number of households currently enrolled. “We are supporting local business and contributing to green job creation,” she adds. “A point could be reached where it makes economic sense for the District to invest in its own collection equipment and related labor, salaries, and benefits if the annual costs would be less than paying a contractor. This is something the District might consider in the future.”
Costs & Benefits: Compost Crew
Compost Crew’s primary revenue is from servicing municipal contracts like the one in Washington, D.C. Its primary cost is labor. “That’s the biggest cost,” says Israel. “Typically, we have two team members on each route to improve efficiency. There also are the costs of the trucks, their maintenance and fuel, and meeting municipal insurance requirements. In the case of the District contract, all the supplies to get the program started, e.g., the curbside containers and kitchen caddies, were paid for by the District.”
PPP Lessons Learned
Compost Crew collection crew on route. Credit: DC Department of Public Works
DC DPW: For the Office of Waste Diversion, the availability of service providers like Compost Crew and Compost Cab — as well as infrastructure in the region to process the food scraps — reduces the risk of providing residents with food scrap recycling. “We are grateful to have community partners that are just as invested in a positive outcome as we are,” says Manning.
The Office of Waste Diversion recognizes the need to invest more in outreach and education. However, outreach conducted for the new smart bins in the District — which included flyers, use of social media, and press interviews — has resulted in 5,500 sign-ups by August 2025.
On the municipal side, a piece of advice that Manning and Smith offer to others looking to establish a PPP is to “make sure you have dedicated program staff to support the endeavor. You cannot rely on the private partner to do the work — you must be actively involved.”
Compost Crew: Because of the required investment to service the District’s curbside pilot, Compost Crew would prefer longer-term contracts with some degree of certainty that the contract will be renewed. It places considerable risk on the company to hire more staff and add collection vehicles if a contract is only for one year of service. “One- to two-year contracts with several option years for continuing the service would provide enough of a commitment,” explains Israel. “Some jurisdictions are restricted by the types of contracts they can sign, but having multiple years makes it a less risky proposition.”
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