What Black Earth Compost does

Black Earth Compost is a vertically integrated organics management and soil products company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts (with primary processing operations based out of Manchester-by-the-Sea). The company collects residential, commercial, municipal, and institutional food scraps across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire — serving 40,000+ households and operating across 200+ towns with a fleet of seven trucks and four regional compost facilities — and converts them into screened compost, premium soil blends, and bagged products via aerated static pile composting with third-party lab-validated testing for salts, nutrients, heavy metals, pathogens, and PFAS (claiming to be the first in the world to publicly release PFAS compost testing data).

The business operates across multiple complementary revenue streams: auto-renewing residential subscriptions at $12.99–$15.99/month for curbside pickup, sales-led commercial and municipal contracts with quote-based pricing and net-30 invoicing, bulk and bagged product sales distributed through the company's e-commerce storefront and 100+ garden centers across New England, CHaRM curbside collection of hard-to-recycle materials (in partnership with TerraCycle), event services (with a $350 minimum for 1,000+ attendee events), the FarmWorks discounted farmer program, lawn top-dressing installation, raised garden bed kits, and a paid municipal consulting practice on program design and facility operations.

Underlying the service is a deliberately controlled full-lifecycle model — collection through finished bag — that captures the economics of both the haul and the product sale. The company is privately held, founder-led by CEO Conor Miller with Colin Rose as Chief Collection Operations, has 11–50 employees, and reports diverting 37M+ lbs of food from landfill and returning 10,000+ yards of compost to soil annually.

Name

Black Earth Compost

Legal name

Black Earth Compost

Website

https://blackearthcompost.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Black Earth Compost is a vertically integrated New England organics recycler that collects residential, commercial, and municipal food scraps across MA, CT, RI, and NH via subscription curbside pickup, converting them into tested compost, soil, and bagged products sold direct and through 100+ garden centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Composting & Organic Waste Management Services

NAICS

Compost Manufacturing (325315), Solid Waste Collection (562111)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Organics Collection & Processing (Composting/Anaerobic Digestion) (IMAIAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Residential Curbside Organics Programs (Municipal/Franchise) (BPALAEAF), Organics & Composting Programs (Food Waste, Green Waste) (BPABALAC), Compost Product Distribution, Retail & Landscape Supply (Bulk/Bagged) (BPALAEAI), Organics (Food/Yard) Collection (Residential & Commercial) (EUAIAAAO)

Keywords

• Curbside compost pickup
• Food scrap collection
• Organic waste management
• Compost and soil products
• Commercial composting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Gloucester

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Residential Food Scrap Pickup Subscriptions: Weekly or bi-weekly curbside collection of food scraps from residential households. Customers receive a bin and choose pickup frequency with automatic renewal subscriptions.
2. Commercial Food Scrap Pickup Services: Customized composting solutions for restaurants, offices, and businesses of all sizes with specialized containers and scheduled collections. Billed at flat rate per pickup based on number of bins and location.
3. Bulk Soil and Compost Products: Sale of bulk compost, premium soil blend, and leaf mulch by the cubic yard for pickup or delivery. Residential customers can also order bagged products.
4. Bagged Garden Products: Sale of bagged compost, potting soil, biochar blend, and leaf mulch at garden centers throughout New England and via delivery.
5. CHaRM Recycling Services: Collection of hard-to-recycle materials (flexible plastics, foam, rigid plastics, electronics, textiles, donations) through route pickup or mail-in programs. Includes TerraCycle Zero Waste Bags subscription.
6. Event Services: Special event food scrap collection including large bins (32, 48, or 64-gallon totes) and Pumpkin Smash events. Minimum service fee of $350 for special events.
7. FarmWorks Program: Discounted compost sales to farmers ($35/yard on first 20 yards) with 10 cents per bag donated to the FarmWorks program. Also accepts horse manure at select facilities.
8. Curbside Add-On Services: Sticker-based add-on services for yard waste collection, textile recycling, and compost overflow collection alongside regular pickup.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Black Earth Compost operates a vertically integrated curbside food scrap collection and composting service that diverts organic waste from landfills and converts it into finished compost products. The company provides weekly or bi-weekly residential pickup, commercial bin collection for restaurants and businesses, municipal and school composting programs, and a complementary hard-to-recycle materials pickup (CHaRM). It sells the resulting compost in bulk and bagged form, along with soil blends, leaf mulch, biochar blends, and raised garden beds through its own e-commerce storefront and 100+ garden center retail partners.

Product overview

Black Earth Compost operates a vertically integrated composting platform offering food scrap collection services (residential, commercial, municipal, and school programs) alongside a portfolio of soil and compost products. The collection services include Home Pickup, Business Pickup, Municipal Services, School Programs, and CHaRM recycling for hard-to-recycle materials, supplemented by add-on services like Sticker Collection for yard waste/textiles, Event services, and Pumpkin Smash events. The product portfolio includes Bulk Compost, Bulk Premium Soil, Bulk Leaf Mulch, and various Bagged products (Compost, Potting Soil, Biochar Blend, Leaf Mulch), plus Raised Garden Beds in three sizes and Lawn Top Dressing services. The company also offers a FarmWorks discount program for farmers and consulting services for municipal infrastructure planning. The platform is built around a full-circle sustainability model from curbside pickup to finished compost product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CHaRM: Collection of Hard to Recycle Materials - curbside pickup service for difficult-to-recycle items including electronics, textiles, foam plastics, rigid plastics, flexible films, and donations
• FarmWorks
• Pumpkin Smash
• Bin Bath

Products and services

• Home Pickup Residential curbside food scrap collection service offering weekly or bi-weekly pickup of household organics in company-provided bins, with auto-renewing subscriptions serving households across the New England pickup route network.
• Commercial Pickup Sales-led commercial composting service for restaurants, offices, grocery stores, and food producers, providing customized container sizes, scheduled pickup, and waste diversion tracking for sustainability reporting.
• Municipal Services Comprehensive city- and town-wide composting program partnerships for local governments, including program design, community education, bin distribution, collection logistics, and waste tracking from pilot to full scale.
• School Programs Cafeteria-to-garden composting programs for K-12 schools and educational institutions, providing age-appropriate bins, collection, and educational resources.
• CHaRM (Collection of Hard to Recycle Materials) Curbside pickup service for hard-to-recycle materials including flexible/film plastics, rigid plastics, foam plastics, electronics, textiles, and donations, with route collection and mail-in TerraCycle Zero Waste Bag options.
• Consulting & Infrastructure Planning Expert advisory services for municipalities, schools, and public/private partnerships covering organics collection logistics, transfer station design, yard waste composting programs, and compost facility design.
• Bulk Compost Bulk finished compost made from food scraps, lobsters, seaweed, leaves, stable manure, and woody materials, screened to 1/2 inch and quality tested; sold by the half yard or cubic yard for pickup or delivery.
• Bulk Premium Soil Blend Bulk premium soil blend combining compost, sandy loam, organic rice hulls, pine fines, and organic fertilizer; free of synthetic fertilizers, peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite; sold by the half yard or cubic yard for pickup or delivery.
• Bulk Leaf Mulch Bulk leaf mulch made from partially composted leaves producing forest humus with uniform brown color, sold by the yard with a 4 yard delivery minimum.
• Bagged Compost One cubic foot bagged premium compost for retail sale, available for delivery in quantities of 10+ bags or for pickup at 100+ garden centers across New England.
• Bagged Potting Soil One cubic foot bagged potting soil combining compost, aged pine fines, rice hulls, kelp, crab meal, and bone/feather meal, ready for direct planting.
• Bagged Biochar Blend One cubic foot bagged biochar blend of 80% premium compost and 20% biochar sourced from Standard Biocarbon in Maine, designed to improve water and nutrient retention.
• Bagged Leaf Mulch 1.5 cubic foot bagged leaf mulch made from partially composted leaves, producing forest-humus style mulch sold at garden center retail.
• Raised Garden Beds Ready-to-assemble raised bed kits made from Maine-sourced spruce in three sizes (Small, Medium, Large), with optional soil blend fill add-on.
• Lawn Top Dressing Service Service that spreads nutrient-rich compost directly onto customer lawns via conveyor truck, starting at $260 and scheduled in fall.
• FarmWorks Program Discounted bulk compost program for farmers with $35/yard pricing on the first 20 yards and access to CSA advertising through Black Earth's customer base, plus drop-off acceptance of horse manure at select facilities.
• Event Food Scrap Collection Zero-waste event food scrap collection service providing commercial-sized 32, 48, or 64-gallon totes for large events with 1,000+ attendees, with a minimum $350 service fee.
• Pumpkin Smash Events Seasonal post-Halloween community events for collecting and composting pumpkins, with carnival truck and regular truck haul-away options.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces household waste by up to 40%
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Bin BathminorOthersProfessional bin cleaning partner serving Metro Boston area. Provides residential and commercial bin cleaning services using 3,500 PSI, 200°F high-pressure wash system. Black Earth customers receive 20% discount with promo code.
• Goodboy Bin CleaningminorOthersBin cleaning service serving Essex County, MA. Provides residential and commercial bin sanitizing. Partner for Black Earth Compost's customer bin maintenance recommendations.
• Bin Eco WashminorOthersBin cleaning partner serving Northwest Boston and Southern NH. Provides eco-friendly bin cleaning services for Black Earth Compost customers.
• TerraCyclecoreTechnology or IntegrationTerraCycle Zero Waste Bags program enables collection of hard-to-recycle materials including coffee pods, dog food bags, cosmetic packaging, water filters, and ink cartridges. Black Earth CHaRM is the only curbside pickup service for TerraCycle Zero Waste Bags in Massachusetts.
• Backyard GrowersminorOthersNonprofit partner that receives donated compost portions from customers who opt to donate their annual voucher. Supports community food growing initiatives.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Casella Waste Systems: Major Northeast U.S. hauler headquartered in Vermont operating integrated solid waste, recycling, and organics services. Overlaps with Black Earth in New England geographies and organics collection/processing, though Casella is far broader in scope and has publicly traded scale.
• Waste Management Inc. Largest U.S. waste and environmental services company with growing organics and composting offerings (e.g., WM Organics). Competes for municipal organics contracts and has the capital to enter any New England market Black Earth serves.
• Republic Services: National environmental services provider with organics recycling programs across multiple U.S. regions. A broad incumbent that competes for large municipal organics contracts similar to those Black Earth targets.

Regional players

• Recology: Employee-owned West Coast integrated waste and composting company operating organics collection and composting services. Comparable vertically integrated curbside-to-compost model, though concentrated in California/Oregon/Washington rather than New England.
• City of Cambridge DPW Composting Program: Municipal curbside organics collection program operating in the same Massachusetts region. Represents the public-sector alternative to Black Earth's residential subscription model.

Direct peers

• Bootstrap Compost: Curbside food scrap pickup service in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts offering residential and commercial subscription composting. Closest geographic and service-model peer, directly competing in Black Earth's core footprint.
• CompostNow: Subscription curbside food scrap collection service based in North Carolina operating across multiple Southeastern U.S. cities. Directly comparable residential and commercial subscription model with similar value proposition around convenience and diversion.
• Atlas Organics: Organics recycling company operating residential and commercial food waste collection with composting facilities across the U.S. Comparable subscription service model and end-market sale of finished compost.
• Bootstrap Composting (South Shore/MA): Local Massachusetts curbside compost pickup subscription service directly competing for the same residential customer base in Eastern Massachusetts suburbs served by Black Earth.

Others

• TerraCycle: Hard-to-recycle materials specialist with which Black Earth has a core partnership for the CHaRM curbside program. Adjacent rather than competitive: enabling Black Earth's hard-to-recycle collection line rather than competing for food scraps.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/blackearthma
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCxx
• Facebookfacebook.com/blackearthcompost
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/black-earth-compost
• Instagraminstagram.com/blackearthcompost

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Black Earth Compost