Orland Park residents can now sign up for curbside composting through an exclusive partnership with Waste Not Compost, marking the village’s first municipal composting service.
The program is voluntary and paid by residents who opt in. The village does not subsidize the service, but Waste Not has agreed to offer lower rates to Orland Park participants as part of the municipal partnership.
“I’m excited to see this opportunity being given to the residents of Orland Park if they so choose to participate,” said Trustee Dina Lawrence, who championed the program through the village’s Sustainability Committee.
“This is about education, understanding why this is a good thing. It’s for our community. It’s not just for the individual.” The board voted and approved moving forward with an exclusive, year-long hauler agreement with Waste Not.
Here’s how it works: Residents sign up on Waste Not’s website, receive pricing based on their address, and schedule service.
The company delivers a five-gallon bucket. On pickup day, residents put the bucket at the curb. Waste Not picks up the full bucket and leaves a sanitized replacement. Service is available weekly or biweekly.
Families can request additional buckets or upgrade to larger carts (35-gallon or 64-gallon) for an additional fee.
What you can compost: All food scraps, including meat, bones, and solid dairy — items that cannot go in backyard composters or curbside recycling. The service also accepts all paper products (paper towels, napkins, coffee filters) and certified compostable plastics.
What you cannot compost: Produce stickers, twist ties, rubber bands, glass, metal, non-compostable plastic, and pet waste. Tommy Vaughn, municipal and growth manager for Waste Not Compost, emphasized that contamination is handled educationally, not punitively.
“If we find something that’s [contaminated] in your bucket, we don’t charge you fees without you knowing,” he said. “We just communicate it via email and provide you with educational tools.”
The company operates the largest residential compost collection service in Illinois, serving over 10,000 households. It also operates the nation’s largest fully electric waste management fleet, a feature the village highlighted as part of its sustainability goals.
Waste Not will provide the village with monthly and quarterly reports on participation, pounds of compost diverted, and environmental impact measured in CO2 equivalencies. Food waste in landfills releases methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more harmful than CO2.
The company will also engage residents at community events, including the Taste of Orland Park festival, and offer promotional programs to encourage sign-ups.
Residents who participate can receive finished compost back for their gardens or donate it to community partners and nonprofits. Waste Not also offers seasonal collections, including Christmas trees and pumpkins.
Mayor James Dodge noted that Illinois has made progress in diverting yard waste from the landfill stream through municipal programs.
“It’d be great to see recycling keep ratcheting up,” he said. “This seemed to be a good way to get rid of some of the organics and compost them.”
