Food scrap pickup services are gaining traction across the U.S., offering an easy option for households and restaurants to keep coffee grounds, eggshells and other leftovers out of landfills while creating nutrient-rich compost.
In Detroit, Ricky Blanding follows a Monday route in a Ford Ranger, hauling buckets of kitchen scraps from porches and eateries to a composting partner. Blanding is the CEO of Scrap Soils, one of many small operators working to divert food waste from dumps and make composting accessible for people who cannot do it at home or lack curbside programs.
Experts say these startups are filling a critical gap in the food system by cutting methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and returning nutrients to the soil. Emily Cassidy, a research associate at climate nonprofit Project Drawdown, noted that reducing methane delivers swift climate benefits. She added that compost also strengthens local food production by cycling nutrients back into the ground.
Blanding, a 34-year-old Detroiter, co-founded Scrap Soils in 2020 to address Michigan’s food waste problem, which contributes significantly to landfill methane and millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. More than 70 homes and businesses now use Scrap Soils’ weekly service. Residential pickups start at 15 dollars per month, and commercial rates begin at 60 dollars depending on volume.
At The Grand Porter restaurant in Southwest Detroit, the staff fills a large bin with eggshells, bread scraps, tomato tops and avocado skins. Executive chef Lou Hammer said the service requires little extra effort because the scraps would be bagged anyway, only now they go into a designated green bag.
After completing a weekly nine-hour route covering more than 100 miles, Blanding delivers the material to Sanctuary Farms in Detroit, where everything from apple cores to pumpkins and corn husks is composted into a soil amendment offered for sale. Blanding says food waste is both a problem and a solution, since composting can curb emissions and build healthier soils.
Scrap Soils plans to invest in a larger truck and eventually secure its own property and equipment for composting. The company is fundraising to meet a state matching grant. Growth has come with challenges, from skepticism about the impact a small team can have to the difficulty of getting residents to sign up and stick with the program. Consistent education is also essential, including reminders about what belongs in the bin and removing produce stickers before tossing peels.
Food scrap pickup services expand beyond city programs
Despite hurdles, independent composting providers are scaling up in cities across the country. Examples include the Denver Compost Collective, Nashville’s Compost Co., and Compost Now, which operates in Atlanta and the North Carolina cities of Raleigh, Durham and Asheville.
Municipal participation is growing too, though it still lags far behind traditional trash services. A 2023 BioCycle report counted 400 municipally supported residential food waste programs nationwide, with 230 offering curbside collection. Many cities view compost as a cornerstone of their climate strategies.
Detroit aims to eliminate municipal greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Alongside energy efficiency and cleaner transportation, the plan includes a three-year effort to divert 15 percent of waste from landfills. The city launched its first food scrap drop-off site last year, registering hundreds of residents who collected scraps at home and delivered them to a central location.
Scrap Soils partnered on public education for the initiative, and Detroit plans to add more drop-off bins and introduce on-site composting at municipal buildings. City officials say these waste-diversion steps complement broader efforts to curb emissions, including how local projects are financed and supported, a theme echoed in coverage of how municipal bond yields hit a sweet spot for investors.
“Composting and recycling are easy entry points into sustainability,” said Tepfirah Rushdan, Detroit’s director of sustainability, who praised growing public participation as the city shifts its systems, including waste streams.
For Blanding, expanding partnerships and community engagement will be key to scaling. He emphasized that haulers play an important role, and education helps ensure composting is done right, which builds momentum for broader climate goals.
