How to Get a Low-Cost Compost Bin

To make it easier for consumers to compost kitchen scraps and yard wastes, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) makes home composting bins available to cities and towns each year through its recycling equipment grant program.

Two styles of compost bins are available through the MassDEP grant program: Earth Machine and New Age Composter. Both are easy to assemble, rodent-resistent and allow for efficient aerobic composting. They are made from a minimum of 50 percent post-consumer recycled plastic collected or processed in Massachusetts.
An average household can compost between 500 and 1,000 pounds of organic material each year in one of these bins, producing a rich soil supplement out of material that would otherwise be thrown away.

Bins retail for between $60 and $100, but are available to residents of communities that receive grants at subsidized prices of between $25 and $35 each.

The MassDEPs compost bin grant program began with a fiscal year 1993 pilot project in western Massachusetts. About 5,300 bins were distributed to residents of the region. A follow-up survey revealed that 92 pecent of the bins were in use one year later, and that people were putting out an average of 27 percent less garbage for disposal after they started composting.

Between 1994 and 2007, about 258 communities have participated in the statewide compost bin grant program, distributing nearly 109,000 bins. In many of these communities, bins are still available. Under the state's grant program, municipalities use revenue from bin sales to purchase additional bins. After the granted bins have been distributed, communities may continue to order bins under a MassDEP statewide contract for between $33 and $53, depending on bin type.

To learn more about home composting or the bin grant program, contact Ann McGovern: 617-292-5834 or ann.mcgovern@state.ma.us.