City of Cleveland Partners with Rust Belt Riders to Launch Pilot Food Scrap Composting Drop-Off Program for Residents

Press release courtesy of the City of Cleveland.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 — Cleveland — The City of Cleveland is pleased to announce the launch of composting services in partnership with Rust Belt Riders, a locally owned commercial and residential composting business. The Food Scrap Drop-Off Composting Program is funded through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), aiming to enhance food waste landfill diversion efforts and support the City’s broader climate and sustainability goals by increasing access to food waste composting across municipal services.

Residents interested in food waste composting services can enroll for $12 per month, making it affordable and easy. This paid enrollment gives residents the flexibility to bring food scrap composting materials to any of the established drop-off locations with Rust Belt Riders. Additionally, to ensure income does not limit participation, the City will offer 250 free memberships for SNAP-eligible households.

As part of this initiative, Cleveland is taking important steps to keep food waste out of landfills, where it would otherwise release methane – a harmful greenhouse gas. Composting food scraps helps reduce these emissions and creates nutrient-rich compost, which can be used to enrich soil in community gardens, parks, and other green spaces.

Through this partnership, the City of Cleveland and Rust Belt Riders have established seven (7) new drop-off sites strategically placed throughout the City, with three (3) more to come in early 2025. SNAP-eligible households who sign up for one of the 250 free memberships will also be able to use the eight (8) existing Rust Belt Riders Drop-Off sites within the City of Cleveland, for a total of eighteen (18) SNAP-eligible sites.  See Rust Belt Riders Drop-Off program page here for a full list of locations (SNAP-eligible sites in red).  Rust Belt Riders has over 45 existing food scrap composting collection sites throughout the Greater Cleveland area, all of which are open for use by the public with a $12/month membership.

These new sites established with the USDA grant funds were selected to ensure equitable access to drop-off composting infrastructure, aligning with the City’s 15-minute city index for maximum geographic and population coverage. The new drop-off sites will be located at several neighborhood resource and recreation centers and community development corporations in the following neighborhoods: Lee-Harvard, Mt. Pleasant, Fairfax, Hough, Glenville, Slavic Village, and Bellaire-Puritas, with three more neighborhoods to be chosen in 2025. To promote inclusivity and ensure all residents can participate in composting services, the City aims to eliminate financial barriers to composting, allowing more residents to engage in sustainable practices. Interested individuals can find more information about SNAP eligibility here.

Rust Belt Riders is also providing free finished compost soil to food producers located in the City of Cleveland, through soil produced by them under the name Tilth Soil. If you want to take advantage of this resource, please fill out this form to learn if you are eligible and indicate your interest.  

Applications for the Compost Ambassadors are now open. Selected candidates will receive a total stipend of $1,400 over 19 months: https://www.sustainablecleveland.org/compostambassador

For more program information or assistance, call 216-800-4651 ext. 2 or email info@rustbeltriders.com.

Partners in this effort include the City of Cleveland - Mayor’s Office of Sustainability & Dept. of Public Works, Rust Belt Riders, Rid-All Green Partnership, the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, and Ohio Means Jobs.

Chloe Musick