{"id":30983,"date":"2026-08-28T10:18:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/?post_type=article&p=30983"},"modified":"2026-08-28T10:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:18:14","slug":"case-study-hoboken-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ilsr.org\/es\/article\/composting-for-community\/case-study-hoboken-new-jersey","title":{"rendered":"Small Pilot Grows to Drop-Off Network and Curbside Subscription Services"},"template":"","class_list":["post-30983","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_type-case-study","initiatives-composting-for-community","topics-community-composting","impact_areas-climate-and-environmental-justice","impact_areas-democratic-governance","authors-nora-goldstein"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":30989,"background_color":"tan","article_type":[712],"initiative":15,"display_event_fields":false,"display_case_study_fields":false,"start_date":null,"end_date":null,"start_time":null,"end_time":null,"time_zone":"America\/New_York","virtual_event":false,"location":"","locality":"Hoboken","state":"N.J.","topics":[42],"impact_areas":[16,19],"abstract":"This case study is from the Keep Compost Local report featuring a public-private partnership between the City of Hoboken (New Jersey) and Community Compost Co.","authors_tax":[701]},"sidebar":{"title":"\u00cdndice"},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"This case study was originally published in Mant\u00e9n el compost local<\/a>, a report offering survey data, case studies, and policy recommendations to equip governments to collaborate with local composters and foster community prosperity. <\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/em>","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Municipality and Interviewees:<\/strong> City of Hoboken Office of Climate Action and Innovation, Jennifer Gonzalez, Director\/Chief Sustainability Officer; Marilyn Baer, Communications Manager\r\n\r\nCompostador comunitario:<\/strong> Community Compost Co. (Eileen Banyra, President\/CEO)","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Public-Private Partnership (PPP)"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Public-Private Partnership (PPP)<\/h3>\r\nCompost Comunitario S.A.<\/a>, founded in 2013, services multiple municipalities with food scraps drop-off services in northern New Jersey and the Hudson Valley in New York State. The company, which has a registered food scraps composting site in Kerhonkson, New York, pioneered municipal food scraps drop-off in the City of Hoboken in 2014. It began by collecting residential food scraps at farmers\u2019 markets, then evolved to drop-off spots (drop spots) in City parks. In 2015, Community Compost Co., in partnership with the City, started door-to-door collection in Hoboken for residents and commercial businesses. About 250 households currently subscribe to curbside collection. The City of Hoboken has provided support for the program, including an operations space and truck parking at the Department of Public Works yard.\r\n\r\nCommunity Compost Co. renewed its Service Agreement with the City of Hoboken in February 2025 to collect and haul residential and commercial food scraps from the City\u2019s 14 drop spots and curbside routes. The agreement includes providing the City with five cubic yards of bulk finished compost at no charge. Community Compost Co. bases the volume to be delivered on the contract size and type of compost product requested.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_image_grid","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_image_grid":{"repeater":true,"images":null,"images_repeater":[{"image":30992,"caption":"Hoboken composting drop-off site. Credit: City of Hoboken","link":""},{"image":30994,"caption":"Hoboken food scraps hauler container. Credit: Community Compost Co.","link":""},{"image":30991,"caption":"Map of Hoboken drop-off sites. Credit: City of Hoboken","link":""}],"ratio":"square","width":"medium"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Municipal Motivation"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Municipal Motivation<\/h3>\r\nThe City tested the waters for residential food scraps collection when Eileen Banyra approached them about trying out drop spots at two farmers\u2019 markets in Hoboken. \u201cWe then set up drop spots in five commonly visited places in the city,\u201d says Banyra. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t much participation, but the City of Hoboken was willing to continue trying different approaches, including drop spots in City parks as well as assist with the creation of a door-to-door collection service for households and businesses. A main reason the City contracted with Community Compost Co. in those early years was it was looking to be a greener City, and we were the only company around promoting a food scraps collection service.\u201d\r\n\r\nJennifer Gonzalez explains that the City of Hoboken has continuously sought to scale up its composting efforts to divert organic waste since the program began. \u201cAs the fourth most densely populated city in the country without space for a municipal composting facility, we need to haul our organic waste to a disposal facility, and unfortunately, we are limited by the availability of licensed composting facilities in New Jersey,\u201d she says. \u201cSolid waste collection (hauling) and disposal is a significant line in the annual municipal budget. Organics, and more specifically food scraps, are the most prevalent waste fraction in Hoboken\u2019s garbage stream. The City is always seeking ways to improve both fiscal and environmental sustainability, including through organics recycling.\u201d An audit completed in 2024 for the City of Hoboken\u2019s Zero Waste Plan<\/a> found that organics constituted 45% of the overall waste characterized, and 76% of this fraction was food scraps.\r\n\r\nBecause the drop spots set up in 2015 were not widely used by residents, Community Compost Co. discontinued them. The drop spot program resumed in 2019 and quickly expanded with the public\u2019s growing environmental awareness. In 2018, the City partnered with the company to implement a nine-month commercial organics collection pilot. Under its contract with the City, Community Compost Co. agreed to accept one 20-cubic-yard container of materials a week, which the City would haul to the company\u2019s composting facility, along with the residential food scraps collected. \u201cThat contract included a clause about contamination,\u201d explains Banyra. \u201cLoads with greater than 3% contamination were rejected and photo documentation was provided. Levels of contamination between 1% and <3% had a set fee per load, plus an hourly labor charge if it took our staff more than one hour to remove contamination. It is important to include a clause like that in municipal and commercial contracts.\u201d The City found that the time and labor expense to haul collected food scraps to Kerhonksen was too costly, and discontinued hauling after the pilot ended. It then contracted with Community Compost Co. to do the collection and hauling.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_pullquote_feature","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_pullquote_feature":{"quote":"Solid waste collection (hauling) and disposal is a significant line in the annual municipal budget. Organics, and more specifically food scraps, are the most prevalent waste fraction in Hoboken\u2019s garbage stream. The City is always seeking ways to improve both fiscal and environmental sustainability, including through organics recycling.","image":"","attribution":"Jennifer Gonzalez, Director, City of Hoboken Office of Climate Action and Innovation"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"In 2024, the City of Hoboken released its Zero Waste Plan, designed to \u201cachieve zero waste and move the City towards a more circular future,\u201d states the City\u2019s website. The four core categories in the plan are garbage and recycling, organics, reuse and repair, and education. Initiatives in the organics category include requiring businesses to collect food scraps, developing a network to connect food donors and recipients, and advocating for a Hudson County (New Jersey) composting facility. (Hoboken is located in Hudson County.) Community Compost Co. assisted the City in its application for a U.S. EPA Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant (SWIFR) in 2024; the company was named as the key partner for organics recycling. However, the City was notified in July 2025 that it would not receive a grant. \u201cWe are continuing to seek grant funding to scale up the composting program,\u201d notes Gonzalez. Currently, there are 14 free drop spots in Hoboken that are serviced under the agreement with Community Compost Co. Twelve of the locations have two 48-gallon totes that are serviced twice a week; the other two have two totes and are serviced weekly. Drop spot locations include City Hall, seven City parks, a community garden, and several public spaces (e.g., a plaza).","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Contractual Arrangements"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Contractual Arrangements<\/h3>\r\nThe 2025 Agreement has a \u201cnot to exceed\u201d amount that covers hauling of collected food scraps to Kerhonkson one to two times per week, servicing the 14 drop spots, monthly education and outreach information sessions, and pallets of bagged compost equal to 50 1-cubic-foot bags per pallet.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Composting Activity"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Composting Activity<\/h3>\r\nComposting is done in aerated static piles; the facility\u2019s registration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation allows Community Compost Co. to compost up to 5,000 cubic yards (or 2,500 wet tons) of source-separated organics a year, including preconsumer and postconsumer food scraps. Plans are underway to develop a second site in Middletown, New York, which would shorten the transport distance to 60 miles each way from Hoboken versus the current 95 miles. \u201cThe new site will help us expand our distributed \u2018waste to resource\u2019 model, while reducing overall transportation and environmental costs for all parties,\u201d notes Banyra. \u201cIt also offers an overall improvement to the flow of goods and services to the region. We are seeking local approvals and, if successful, are looking to open the new site in 2026.\u201d","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Outreach & Education"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Outreach & Education<\/h3>\r\nThe City actively promotes the composting program and \u201crecycling right\u201d via its sitio web<\/a>, social media, and print advertising on public waste receptacles.\r\n\r\nIn its municipal partnerships, Community Compost Co. charges a fee for outreach and education. In the case of Hoboken, given the longevity of the program, outreach to the public goes beyond promotion of the drop spots and curbside collection service to trainings on various types of composting options, including backyard composting and vermicomposting, soil ecology and compost utilization, and best practices for drop spot management.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Compost Markets"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Compost Markets<\/h3>\r\nHouseholds that subscribe to curbside collection in Hoboken can receive two deliveries of bagged compost a year if they opt into that offer. Bulk compost given back to the City of Hoboken is used in community gardens and public spaces.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Costs & Benefits: City of Hoboken"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Costs & Benefits: City of Hoboken<\/h3>\r\nThe City has been able to offer residents and businesses food scraps collection through its partnership with Community Compost Co. Over the years, program logistics have been fine-tuned, creating a solid foundation to increase organics recycling under the City\u2019s Zero Waste Plan.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"Costs & Benefits: Community Compost Co"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Costs & Benefits: Community Compost Co.<\/h3>\r\nWhat started as a pioneer program in 2014 has evolved into a mature residential and commercial food scraps collection \u201cinstitution\u201d in Hoboken. The 14 drop spots that are free to use are accessible to all households in Hoboken. \u201cWe make more money on our door-to-door service for residents and businesses, but access to food scraps collection for all is core to our mission,\u201d says Banyra. \u201cThe challenge with a free service, however, is you can\u2019t come back from that in terms of shifting to a paid system. We suggested that if a fee was to be charged, that it be included with the garbage bill and represented as a utility bill or shown as a line item on the tax bill so that people really knew the cost of removal of waste and organics. Understanding costs is a significant consideration when creating municipal programs for food scraps diversion.\u201d\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_30999\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"415\"]\"\" Vehicle unloading food scraps at compost site.
Credit: Community Compost Co.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAnother consideration is access to land for local, small composting sites, closing the loop within the city limits. The SWIFR grant application that Hoboken submitted included composting at innovation parks that the City is creating to manage stormwater and mitigate flooding. For example, its ResilienCity Park<\/a> transformed an asphalt-covered former industrial site into 5 acres of public open space that encompasses not only athletic spaces and a playground but also green infrastructure to filter and store stormwater to \u201calleviate the City\u2019s infrastructure system and adjacent nuisance flooding,\u201d according to the City. Currently, there are three resiliency parks, and two of those have food scraps drop spots.","":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_anchor","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_anchor":{"title":"PPP Lessons Learned"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

PPP Lessons Learned<\/h3>\r\nCity of Hoboken:<\/strong> For the City of Hoboken, having an asset like Community Compost Co. has been essential to the success of its residential and business food scraps collection programs. \u201cPartnerships are essential for innovation in municipal operations,\u201d says Gonzalez. \u201cCommunity Compost Co. was an instrumental partner in establishing Hoboken\u2019s residential compost collection program and supports the City\u2019s organic recycling efforts by helping fill the void created by limited licensed composting facilities in New Jersey. The City of Hoboken has physical space constraints that prevent the City from establishing its own organic recycling program, and the City\u2019s Zero Waste consultant, Eunomia, determined at a high level that outsourcing waste collection is more cost effective than bringing those operations in-house.\u201d\r\n\r\nLessons learned\/programmatic experiences that the City of Hoboken gained working with a company like Community Compost Co. are to \u201cstart small, evaluate progress regularly, and be flexible to make changes to evolve the program,\u201d adds Gonzalez. \u201cWe have made various program improvements over the years as recommended by Community Compost Co., ranging from physical changes (e.g., better sheds and signage for the compost drop sites) to digital changes (e.g., a registration system to provide the locks to the drop sites and \u2018what to compost\u2019 education.\u201d\r\n\r\nCommunity Compost Co.:<\/strong> Banyra also emphasizes how the longevity of the partnership has facilitated incorporating lessons learned into each new contract the City negotiates with Community Compost Co. Having a municipal policy in place to incentivize food scraps diversion when negotiating public-private partnerships would be a benefit to community composters, she adds. \u201cThe policy anchors a program because it can take a few years to get people to buy into the practice until it becomes more natural.\u201d\r\n\r\nAn important public-private partnership lesson learned for Banyra has been getting buy-in for a program from elected officials. \u201cThey have to be in the discussions from the getgo,\u201d she explains. \u201cYour job is to sell them the importance of the program and get them to make funds available to invest in it. Suggest the municipality start with a pilot. Offer a sample program to gauge interest. For example, if the municipality wants a drop spot, tell them to get 20 people interested in using it before you commit. Also, make the jurisdiction pay for some consulting time to set up the pilot and tell them if a contract is negotiated, they will get 50% of the money spent back.\u201d\r\n\r\nSeveral other lessons learned are:\r\n