Make Backyard Composting Easier with our Group Compost Bin Purchase Program

Getting more people to compost at home can have a big impact on the amount of food waste that ends up in landfills, but starting a backyard composting program, figuring out where to get bins, how to sell them, handling payments, and how to get everything into residents’ hands can feel like a lot to take on. That is where Recycling Connections’ Group Compost Bin Purchase Program comes in.

For nearly 30 years, we’ve been helping municipalities, schools, non-profits, and other organizations make backyard composting more accessible in their communities. Nearly 30,000 Home Composter bins have been purchased through our program

since 1998. The Home Composter is made from recycled plastic and is designed to be sturdy while lightweight enough to move easily. It holds up to 129 gallons and is available through our program exclusively rather than being sold in retail stores. Communities purchase the bins in bulk and determine how they want to offer them to residents. By bringing communities together for group purchasing, we’re able to offer durable, US-made compost bins at a more affordable price along with the flexibility to create a program that works best for them.

Flexibility is important. Not every community has the same resources, storage space, or staffing available to run a compost bin sale and that’s why we offer two ways to participate in our program: the traditional group purchase option or the online pre-sale option.

With our traditional group purchase option, a community purchases bins in bulk and has them delivered directly to a location of their choosing and manages their own sale for their residents. This option works especially well for communities who have space to store bins and want to offer them to residents for purchase year-round. Communities set their own price and Recycling Connections provides promotional materials and general program support along the way.

Is storage an issue?

Not every community has access to a warehouse, garage, or convenient place to keep dozens of compost bins sitting around all year and that’s why we developed our online pre-sale option. With this option, Recycling Connections creates an online store specifically for your community. You share the store link with residents through your website, newsletter, social media, community communications, or wherever you normally reach people. Orders are placed online by residents through your online store and Recycling Connections handles all transactions so you don’t have to collect payments.

Once the sale is complete, the bins are delivered to your community for a designated pick-up event. You provide the location and coordinate the on-site logistics while Recycling Connections helps with the customer pick-up schedule and provides tips and support to help your event go smoothly.

Your community doesn’t have to become a compost-bin warehouse or a payment processor – you get to focus on promoting the program and connecting residents with an easy way to start composting.

Participating communities receive promotional resources such as flyers, advertisements, news release templates, and tips and tricks for having a successful sale. We also offer free composting webinars that communities can share with residents or we can even host a webinar specifically for your community.

We want your program to be able to grow with your community. One thing we love about our program is that it can be as simple or as ambitious as a community wants to make it. Maybe you are looking to start a backyard composting program for the first time or maybe you’re trying to expand your existing food waste reduction efforts; whatever your starting point is, we’re here to help.

Ready to get started? Visit www.RecyclingConnections.org/Group-Purchase-Program

Questions? Let's talk!

Michelle Nieuwenhuis

compost@recyclingconnections.org Office: 715-343-0722