Downtown Commercial Composting

Apply to get 75% of your monthly fee for Black Bear Composting commercial service covered by this grant. You must be located in the downtown Harrisonburg district. Any business type can apply and if your food-based business joins the City of Harrisonburg’s EATS program, you can also receive $100 to cover initial costs. Apartment buildings are not eligible.

If you are a food service business in Harrisonburg and join the City of Harrisonburg’s EATS program, you can apply to get 75% of your monthly composting fees covered by this grant. EATS participants will also receive $100 to help with initial costs.  

We’d like to give you a $500 “appreciation” grant to recognize your on-going commitment to sustainability. This is open to current Black Bear commercial customers in the City of Harrisonburg.

• Check that you have the space to store a 65-gallon Black Bear compost toter (the dimensions are 28″ x 28″ x 41″). The toter will need to be outside and accessible for Black Bear to empty it on your weekly pick-up day.
• Your team will collect your compostable waste in separate containers inside. You’ll need to use compostable bags to line your inside containers so your scraps are bagged before putting in the bin, or opt for a Black Bear bin lined with a large compostable bag that you can dump into directly.
• Black Bear accepts:
  o All food scraps including
  o Meat, bones, shells and dairy products
  o Food-soiled paper products like pizza boxes, paper towels and napkins, uncoated paper plates (eg, Chinet-style)
  o Plastic products BPI-certified as compostable
• It is critical that your compostable waste collection be kept free of contaminants like packaging and other non-compostables (plastics, metals, glass). This can take continuous monitoring and vigilance. It is a serious issue for Black Bear.
• Once your application is processed, you will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Black Bear that establishes mutually agreed on expectations for the service. You can cancel at any time if you find composting isn’t a good fit for your business.
• You can request to have your team trained by Black Bear so your compost doesn’t get contaminated. You’ll receive instructional signage and Black Bear can help select separation points at your business.
• We would like for you to display your window cling and report your waste reduction and trash collection savings to HDR.
• You will need to buy the appropriate compostable bags as needed. Participants may source their own bags as long as they are certified compostable and individually labeled as “compostable.” Black Bear sells compostable bags in 3- to 64- gallon sizes. Check with them for current pricing. Please note that the grant funding does not include the purchase of compostable bags from Black Bear.
• You’ll be invoiced at the beginning of each month by Black Bear for your previous month’s service. Your first invoice will include a one-time $50 set up fee and the percentage of your monthly fee that is not covered by the grant. Monthly fees are based on volume and weight. For example, August 2024 pricing is as follows:
  • $10.10 per bin per collection (e.g., 1 bin collected weekly during a 4-week month would be $40.40)
  • $11.63 per lined bin per collection (for a bin with a compostable liner so food items would not need to be bagged in compostable bags before adding to the bin)
  • $69 per ton tipping fee (A full bin can weigh 20-250 lbs depending on the mix of wet and dry items. A bin full of a mix of food and paper scraps will average around 100 lbs. For a 4-week month of weekly 100-lb bins, the tipping fee would total about $15 for the month.)
  • For one bin collected weekly with a mix of food and paper scraps, your 25% share will likely be about $15/month.
  • Collection and tipping fees can change so please contact Black Bear for the most up-to-date pricing.