Commercial Composting

Commercial or industrial composting is large-scale composting designed to handle a high volume of organic material, as opposed to backyard composting, which handles organic material from only one household. The compost (finished product) produced by a commercial composting facility can be sold to farms and nurseries, applied to municipal landscaping, or sold to individuals. With a growing interest in composting, recycling, and reducing the environmental impact of doing business, commercial composting operations have expanded in Georgia and around the country.

YES, WE HAVE COMPOST!

We have bio-solid and food scrap compost for sale (from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Monday through Saturday) at $20 a cubic yard.

To obtain compost, customers have two (2) options: 1. Visit our facility, where we load the compost for you. 2. If the first option is not available, check the Compost Haulers link to download contact information for local haulers (Please Note: The ACC Landfill does NOT deliver compost.).

Types of Compost

The ACC Commercial Composting Facility produces two types of compost: Bio-solid compost and Food Waste compost.

Bio-solid compost consists of composted bio-solids and leaf & limb debris. Bio-solids refer to processed wastewater solids that have met specific criteria and are suitable for composting and is further tested to be certifiably compostable. The landfill receives the bio-solids from ACC Public Utilities Wastewater Treatment Facilities. Bio-solids from a specific city wastewater treatment facility are somewhat unique because the content is based on what the local industries, business and households contribute to the wastewater stream.

Food Scraps compost consists of composted food waste delivered by the ACC Solid Waste Department, several local commercial entities, Closed Loop Organics and CompostNow from Atlanta, and leaf & limb debris. Our Compost Drop-Off Program brings your food scraps to the facility to be turned into certified compost.

To earn the "US Composting Council Seal of Testing Approval" the ACC Commercial Composting Facility is required to test the compost quarterly through the US Composting Council. The compost technical data sheet with test results is provided to all individuals upon request or from the links below.

Cost and Loading Hours (When Available)

The ACC Landfill sells finished, screened compost for $20 per cubic yard loaded.

Just need a bucket of compost? Load a bucket of compost for $2.00 per 5-gallon bucket.

Compost (when available) can be purchased: Monday - Saturday (9:00 am – 3:00 pm)

Please note: For loading please see the guidelines below:

Large loads (Dump Trucks and the like): Monday - Friday (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)

Small loads (Small Trailers, pickup trucks and the like): Monday - Saturday (9:00 - 3:00 pm)

Need delivery? Please see below for a list of Athens-area haulers:

1-4 Yards:

Great American Hauling - (706) 612-6527 / Email: greatamericanhauling@yahoo.com

Jimmy Johnson - (706) 546-0673

5-10 Yards:

Great American Hauling - (706) 612-6527 / Email: greatamericanhauling@yahoo.com

Ogle Sanitation - (706) 742-2164 / www.oglesanitation.com

10-20 Yards:

Double A Hauling - (706) 742-5598 / www.doubleahauling.com

Gunter Transport - (706) 255-1158

Roll-Off Systems - (706) 725-7655 / www.rolloffsystems.com

Shane Russell Tractor & Trucking - (706) 540-9701

Teri Harris Trucking - (706) 543-0062 / www.teriharristrucking.com

Commercial Food Scrap Collection

The ACC Commercial Composting Facility offers food scrap collection for businesses, nonprofits, and organizations. The curbside bins are 32-gallon roll carts. Pricing starts at $29.25 for 1 one roll cart and weekly pick up. For more information call (706) 613-3501 or email recycle@accgov.com

Rates:

Collections per week starting with (1) 32-gallon compost cart
1	$29.25	Each additional 32-gallon compost roll cart is an additional $5.50 each.
2	$44.00	Backyard or Indoor additional service fee cost $16.50.
3	$48.75	The Commercial Composting Contamination Fee $20.00 per ton.
4	$55.00	The Commercial Composting Cart Cleaning fee (Upon Request) $11.00 per cart.
5	$60.50	The Commercial Composting Cart Replacement Fee $27.50 per cart.

Compost Uses

The ACC Commercial Composting Facility produces a compost that is a soil amendment. According to Cooperative Extension - a soil amendment is any material added to a soil to improve its physical properties, such as water retention, permeability, water infiltration, drainage, aeration and structure. The goal is to provide a better environment for roots.

Common Compost Uses:

Soil Amendment

Basic Soil Amendment Guidelines - pdf

Lawn Top Dressing
A top dressing is when a layer of compost is added to the top of a lawn. Typically a top dressing is applied once a year in early spring. To apply a top dressing place anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of compost to the lawn then rake and water the compost/lawn.

Moisture Retention (similar to a mulch)

Compost can be used to retain moisture (like mulch). Spread 2-3 inches on shrubs, trees and/or bushes.

Background

The ACC Commercial Composting Facility (Classic City Compost) is an EPD permitted commercial composting facility covering 4.5 paved acres. The composting facility opened in January 2011. Unprocessed and processed leaf and limb debris is stored on the adjoining unpaved piece of property which adds an additional 4.5 acres of compost facility footprint. The compost facility cost approximately $800,000 to construct with an additional $750,000 spent on equipment (ACC Public Utilities paid the equipment costs).

For additional information, please contact the ACC Landfill at (706) 613-3508.