CompostNow

What CompostNow does

CompostNow is a community-scale organics recycling company founded in 2011 in Raleigh, North Carolina, that provides food scrap and organic waste collection, processing, and compost redistribution services to residential households, commercial businesses, and municipal governments. The company collects roughly 1 million pounds of organic waste per month and over 20.6 million pounds in 2025 alone, using an aerated windrow composting method that achieves temperatures up to 160°F and can process meat, dairy, bones, and compostable serviceware. It operates processing facilities including a Georgia site (since 2017) and Southern Soil Works in Meriwether County, which is pursuing a Class III upgrade with $2.5M in USDA grant funding.

The business model rests on recurring subscription revenue across three primary segments: residential curbside pickup at $29/month, commercial collection for restaurants, universities, and venues (including UNC, Atlanta Hawks State Farm Arena, and Whole Foods Chapel Hill), and municipal partnerships with cities such as East Point, Avondale Estates, Morrisville, Wake Forest, and Chatham County that are often grant-funded. Adjacent product lines include event composting, a Hard-to-Recycle pickup service for 14 material streams (launched 2024 with Live Thrive's CHaRM), and the CompostHere mobile app for municipal program access. The company closes the nutrient loop through the Garden Partners Program, which delivered $257,455 worth of compost to 110 active community gardens and farms in 2025.

CompostNow has grown primarily through four acquisitions (Tilthy Rich Compost in 2017, Compostwheels in 2017, Food FWD in 2018, and Better Bin Compost in 2021), now operating across North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Ohio with 51–100 employees. It is a Certified B Corporation (2022) and was named US Composting Council Manufacturer of the Year in 2024 for small-scale facilities. Funding has been modest, with approximately $2M raised from Bild Alternative Investments in 2019 and ongoing participation from Triangle Tweener Fund in 2022 and 2024.

Name

CompostNow

Legal name

CompostNow

Website

https://compostnow.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

CompostNow is a community-scale organics recycler founded in 2011 that provides subscription-based food scrap pickup, commercial composting, and grant-funded municipal programs across the Southeast, processing over 20 million pounds of organic waste per year into compost distributed through a 110-garden partner network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Composting and Organic Waste Management Services

NAICS

Solid Waste Collection (562111), Waste Collection (56211), Compost Manufacturing (325315), Fertilizer and Compost Manufacturing (32531)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Composting Facility Operations (Windrow, ASP, In-Vessel) (BPALAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Organics Collection & Processing (Composting/Anaerobic Digestion) (IMAIAFAF), Residential Curbside Organics Programs (Municipal/Franchise) (BPALAEAF), Compost Product Distribution, Retail & Landscape Supply (Bulk/Bagged) (BPALAEAI), Composting (Windrow, Aerated Static Pile, In-Vessel) (EUAIAEAC), Organics End-Market Services (Land Application, Soil Restoration, Erosion Control) (BPALAEAL), Organics (Food/Yard) Collection (Residential & Commercial) (EUAIAAAO), Compost & Compost Blends (AFABADAE)

Keywords

• Organic waste management
• Food scrap recycling
• Curbside compost pickup
• Municipal composting programs
• Commercial compost collection

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Residential Subscription Services: Monthly subscription services for residential households providing weekly curbside pickup of food scraps and compostable materials. Revenue is recurring and subscription-based, billed monthly to individual consumers.
2. Commercial Composting Services: Business composting services for restaurants, offices, grocery stores, and commercial food producers. High-volume organic waste collection with customized pickup schedules. Revenue is recurring subscription-based.
3. Municipal Government Partnerships: Partnerships with municipalities for grant-funded or subsidized composting programs. Includes curbside collection programs, drop-off station programs, and public-private partnership composting infrastructure. Revenue derived from government contracts and USDA grant funding.
4. Hard-to-Recycle Pickup Service: Additional service for collecting hard-to-recycle materials (plastic film, styrofoam, small electronics) alongside compost bins. One-time pickup scheduling available for non-subscribers. Revenue is usage-based or included in subscription.
5. Garden Partners Program: Distribution of finished compost to local growers and community gardens at no cost, supported by municipal and grant funding. Creates closed-loop system connecting food waste generators with agricultural end users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CompostNow provides subscription-based curbside and drop-off food scrap collection services to residential households, commercial businesses, and municipal governments across the U.S. Southeast and Ohio. Collected organic waste is processed at owned facilities using aerated windrow composting into finished compost, which is then redistributed to local farms and community gardens through its Garden Partners Program. The company also offers event composting, a Hard-to-Recycle pickup service for 14 material streams, and the CompostHere mobile app to support municipal organic waste program deployment.

Product overview

CompostNow is an organics recycling solutions provider offering a suite of interconnected services centered on collecting, processing, and converting food scraps and organic waste into compost. The core portfolio consists of residential and business compost pickup services, municipal composting programs (both curbside and drop-off), event composting, and Hard-to-Recycle pickup services. The company complements its collection services with in-house compost production at its Georgia Facility and Southern Soil Works (Class III upgrade in progress), and supports end-users through its Garden Partners Program which distributes finished compost to local growers. In 2024, CompostNow released the CompostHere mobile app with cart housing stations to help municipalities launch organic waste programs. The company has grown in part through strategic acquisitions including Compostwheels (2017), Tilthy Rich Compost (2017), Food FWD (2018), and Better Bin Compost (2021), expanding its footprint from Raleigh, NC to multiple states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Southern Soil Works: Composting facility in Meriwether County, Georgia
• CompostHere

Products and services

• Residential Compost Pickup Service Weekly curbside pickup of food scraps and organic waste from residential households, with company-provided bins and scheduled collections. Available in Raleigh-Durham (NC), Atlanta (GA), Asheville (NC), and Cincinnati (OH) at $29 per month.
• Business Compost Services Composting solutions for restaurants, offices, grocery stores, universities, sports venues, and commercial food producers, with customized collection schedules and waste audits. Customers include UNC, Atlanta Hawks State Farm Arena, and Whole Foods Chapel Hill.
• Municipal Composting Programs Curbside and drop-off composting programs for municipalities, developed through public-private partnerships with city, town, and county governments. Includes City of East Point drop-off program, Avondale Estates curbside pilot, Morrisville, Wake Forest, and Chatham County drop-off programs.
• Event Composting Services Composting services for events including collection bins, pickup logistics, and on-site support to manage organic waste at gatherings such as conferences, festivals, and corporate events.
• Hard-to-Recycle Pick-up Service Convenient pickup service for items not accepted in curbside recycling such as plastic film, styrofoam, small electronics, batteries, and textiles. Accepts 14 material streams and partners with Live Thrive's CHaRM for processing.
• Garden Partners Program Program that delivers finished compost to local farms, gardens, and community growers at no cost, closing the loop on food waste by returning nutrients to the soil. Over $257,000 worth of compost delivered to 110 active gardens in 2025.
• CompostHere Mobile App Mobile application and cart housing stations designed to make it easier for municipalities to set up accessible organic waste programs, supporting community composting infrastructure deployment.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ million pounds of food scraps diverted from landfills since 2011
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Town of MorrisvillemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025North Carolina municipality partnership to deploy drop-off composting programs. Part of municipal access expansion across North Carolina.
• Town of Wake ForestmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025North Carolina municipality partnership to deploy drop-off composting programs. Part of municipal access expansion across North Carolina.
• Chatham CountymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025North Carolina county partnership to deploy drop-off composting programs. Part of municipal access expansion across North Carolina.
• DeKalb County Super District 6majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024County district partnership for Avondale Estates curbside composting pilot. Targeted marketing and outreach efforts helped enroll 350+ households before collections began.
• Roots DowncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2024Partnership for Avondale Estates program to distribute compost to local edible landscapes and libraries in DeKalb County alongside Food Well Alliance.
• Live Thrive's CHaRMcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 July 2024Partnership to offer Hard-to-Recycle pick-up service in Atlanta, Georgia. Collected items are sent to Live Thrive's CHaRM facilities (Centers for Hard to Recycle Materials) where they are prepared for refurbishment, re-engineering, or recycling through local partners. CHaRM Atlanta diverted over 5.7 million pounds of materials in 2023.
• Natures Candy FarmsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2023Stakeholder in East Point Community Compost Program. General manager Tenisio Seanima provided feedback on program marketing and accessibility challenges.
• Leafy Greens MarketminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2023Ward A location housing East Point Community Compost drop-off station. One of 4 drop-off locations enabling residents to divert food scraps.
• ArtsXchangeminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2023Ward B location housing East Point Community Compost drop-off station. Art center providing space for community composting infrastructure.
• Oyun Botanical GardensminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2023Ward C location housing East Point Community Compost drop-off station. Botanical garden providing space for community composting infrastructure.
• Atlanta Community Food BankminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2023Ward D location housing East Point Community Compost drop-off station. Food bank providing prominent location for composting access.
• City of East PointcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2023USDA grant-funded partnership for municipal compost drop-off program. Residents receive free composting service, food scraps processed by CompostNow, and compost returned to BIPOC farmers through Food Well Alliance. Program enrolled 100+ residents in first six months, diverted 7,500+ pounds.
• Food Well AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2023Nonprofit supporting network of local urban farmers in Metro Atlanta. Distributes finished compost to BIPOC growers through partnership. Food Well Alliance has helped distribute over 1.5 million pounds of compost across 40 local growers. Also supported City Agriculture Plan influencing cities to implement composting programs.
• East Point GrowncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2023Partnership for USDA grant-funded municipal compost program. East Point Grown contributes to community food systems work alongside CompostNow's composting services.
• Atlanta Regional CommissionmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2023Regional planning agency that has supported composting and urban agriculture advancement for several years. Supported grant program deployment and municipal agriculture planning in Metro Atlanta region.

Scale indicators25 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bootstrap Compost: Boston-based residential and commercial curbside compost pickup service operating a similar subscription-based model. Direct competitor serving households and businesses in the Northeast with comparable pricing and pickup logistics.
• Compost Crew: DC-area residential and commercial compost collection service serving Washington, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia. Directly comparable subscription-based curbside pickup model targeting similar household and business customers.
• Black Earth Compost: Massachusetts-based residential and commercial composting service with multiple service areas across New England. Operates a similar subscription curbside model and competes in the same product category as CompostNow.
• Blue Earth Compost: Connecticut-based residential and commercial compost pickup service. Direct competitor with comparable subscription model serving households and businesses in the Northeast.
• Garbage to Garden: Maine-based curbside compost pickup service for residential and commercial customers across multiple New England locations. Closely comparable subscription-based food scrap collection model with similar pricing tier.
• Veteran Compost: Maryland-based residential and commercial compost collection service. Direct competitor offering subscription curbside pickup with similar operational model and target customer segments.
• Crown Town Compost: Charlotte, NC-based residential compost pickup service. Direct regional competitor operating within North Carolina with comparable subscription-based curbside collection model.
• Community Compost Company: New Jersey-based residential and commercial curbside composting service in the Hoboken area. Operates an essentially identical subscription-based collection model targeting urban and suburban households and businesses.

Broad incumbents

• Waste Management Inc. Largest North American waste services company offering organic waste collection and processing as part of a broader portfolio. Competes with CompostNow in the commercial/municipal organic hauling space with significantly greater scale and infrastructure.
• Casella Waste Systems: Regional solid waste, recycling, and resource management services company with growing organics/composting division serving the Northeast. Broader incumbent competitor with overlapping organic waste services and integrated landfill/transfer infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/compostnow
• Facebookfacebook.com/compostnow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/compostnowinc
• Instagraminstagram.com/compostnow

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CompostNow