Learn more about our Household Hazardous Waste Campaign here.

Composting is nature’s way of recycling unused or “waste” organic materials including food scraps (like fruits and vegetables) and yard waste trimmings (like leaves, grass and small tree branches) into a dark, earthy-smelling soil conditioner, thereby preserving valuable nutrient-rich organic resources.

Do you want to compost, but don’t have the space, resources, or time to compost at home? You can still help minimize landfill waste, reduce greenhouse gases, and create a more sustainable community through community composting.

Now you can compost the easy way!

Beginning March 1, CCES is partnering with Chicago-based WasteNot composting service to provide residents of Champaign, Urbana, and surrounding communities with an easy, safe, and convenient way to compost their organic materials.

Home composting is messy, smelly, and requires constant monitoring and attention. Further, materials like bones, dairy, breads, and pasta can’t be home composted because they require very high, sustained temperatures to break down fats, bones, and proteins. Large items like melons decompose too slowly, leaving you with a slimy, rotting, unusable mess.

Welcome to WasteNot Composting Service

WasteNot, our collection service, takes the work out of composting by offering a convenient dropoff location at Lincoln Square Mall, 300 S. Broadway Avenue, Urbana.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1.  You sign up for the service online at wastenot.compost.com/urbana. You’ll get an email with the specific dropoff location and a code for the bin enclosure.

2.  You collect your waste at home in a sealed bucket, compostable bag, or other sealed container.

3.  When it’s convenient for you, you bring your compostable materials to the dropoff bin.

For a fee of $15 per month, members can drop off up to 5 gallons of compostable materials per week. It’s like paying for trash pickup, except your waste is recycled into a rich compost used for landscaping, road construction projects, sustainable farms, and community gardens. This organic-rich compost improves soils, prevents soil erosion and runoff, and captures carbon dioxide for climate protection.