How does GoZERO help you set up a composting program?
Introduction
Thanks and congratulations on taking another step toward food waste composting by reviewing this information! The prospect of setting up a composting program may be daunting, but it doesn't have to be.
This overview will address the most common questions asked when considering a new food waste composting program. It will outline the steps to take when signing up for GoZERO services, ensuring our offerings are a good fit for you.
This article includes:
WHAT GoZERO OFFERS – What GoZERO service entails and what it looks like day-to-day.
HOW TO USE – Leadership, planning, and communication are key to setting up and using GoZERO.
WHEN TO USE – Consider material type, available resources, and viable alternatives.
TAILORING SERVICE – We've streamlined the process of finding what's right for your location.
PROCESS OVERVIEW – Best practices for getting started & staying successful.
ISSUE RESOLUTION – Our approach to avoiding and addressing issues sets us apart.
If additional questions arise after reading this comprehensive article, please don't hesitate to be in touch. We'd love to help and learn right along with you. Thanks for taking the time to dispose of your food waste sustainably!
Gratefully yours,
David Andre
Executive Director
GoZERO Services, Food Waste Compost Courier
1: WHAT GoZERO OFFERS
GoZERO assesses each site independently. We explain the food waste composting process, help determine how much disposal service is needed, provide tips and tricks for source-separating compostable items into the provided containers, and routinely empty and service those containers. GoZERO takes care to ensure collected material is composted off-site at a licensed facility and to provide support for maintaining a successful on-site composting program.
Here's where you come in. Our focus at GoZERO is to provide disposal services, not on-site program management. Our service is built on the idea that "If you can get your compostables to the containers, we can take it from there."
Support is available, but ultimately, our customers are responsible for establishing and maintaining their own on-site/in-house programming. This approach typically produces better programming because it requires internal leadership to focus on outcomes from the outset.
In food waste composting programs, there is no substitute for grassroots interest. For example, frontline participants are the best resource for educating others about source separation (i.e., ensuring that compostable items go into composting receptacles and non-compostable items go into other appropriate receptacles). A composting program probably won't work without this initiative, which is why your leadership and communication are needed. Once started, typically only minor refinements and ongoing support are needed as experience is gained.
What we're best at:
Once questions are answered, services are estimated and approved, and administrative logistics are accounted for, the program can move forward. Typically, GoZERO provides 1-30 watertight, 64-gallon (22" x 24" x 42"), branded bright green plastic rollout carts, each with a hinged lid, a set of wheels, and a compostable liner. We deliver these to the site ahead of the composting program kickoff date. Once the on-site program begins, we service these carts regularly.
A routine service visit involves a GoZERO truck arriving during regular service hours. Typically, we operate between 7 AM and 7 PM on the service date. When the truck arrives, the driver will assess the carts and the material in them, take pictures, and record several data points (the number of carts serviced, total gallons collected, and total pounds collected). Before parting ways, carts are emptied into the truck and relined with a new compostable bag. Weather permitting and as needed, carts are washed with an onboard pressure washer. Rinse water is loaded into the truck.
Timeliness
The objective is to complete all services by 7 PM on the service date. Sometimes, due to delays, services may occur a couple of hours later. Typically, if there is a significant disruption, GoZERO will coordinate to ensure locations have access to food waste disposal.
Passive Service
Routine service assumes carts are passively accessible – not locked, behind gates/doors, or requiring any interaction with onsite personnel. Carts are typically best staged outside near other dumpsters. Including barriers to entry may result in additional fees to cover costs or ending service altogether.
Volumes & Weights
Volume and weight numbers are estimates. GoZERO uses an estimation protocol that has been precise to within 2%, and even that variance is adjusted for reporting.
Contamination
Non-compostable contamination is an ever-present threat to the viability of any food waste composting program. GoZERO prides itself on having established basic protocols with customers for quantifying, communicating, and supporting them in addressing non-compostable contamination. If non-compostable contamination is found, GoZERO provides additional communication and support.
However, if contamination persists beyond tolerable levels, it may become necessary to modify programming, leave contaminated carts unserviced, or even charge additional fees to cover the cost of sorting out contamination. These measures are managed in partnership with customers. In the vast majority of cases, issues can be addressed through internal and on-site coaching.
Data Sharing
Data that the driver captures is made available to customers via a Google Drive spreadsheet. These spreadsheets have helped report and brag about the good done through these programs.
Cart Swapping
At some remote sites or those with lower cart quantities, it is possible to provide services with smaller trucks by way of swapping rather than tipping, washing, and lining carts. If this is possible, the service experience remains the same. The only difference is that carts are swapped rather than tipped to transport food waste to a licensed composting facility.
2: HOW TO USE
Regardless of your circumstance, identifying committed and capable program leadership is essential. These leaders should be willing to work with all parties involved, focus on successful outcomes, and help plan easy-to-use workflows and routines for program participants. They will engage and communicate clearly all relevant whys and hows upfront, laying the foundation for a successful food waste composting program.
For more details, check out our composting program setup guide. Please share what you think, and as you progress on your food waste composting journey, please let us know any additional good ideas or gotchas you find along the way.
Community Organizing
GoZERO loves to support communities coming together. If a group of businesses, a community garden, a municipality, or others wants to self-organize to share a single service location, we're 100% on board.
Our goal is to make composting more accessible, and while economics and logistics sometimes create barriers, creativity and working together can usually be the solution.
Onsite Cart Use
Sometimes, GoZERO carts are cycled inside or across a campus or community. However, securing right-sized receptacles for in-house use and using compostable liners in those receptacles for cleanliness and as a built-in pre-bagging containment mechanism is highly recommended. If GoZERO carts are cycled inside at any point, it's strongly recommended that only empty carts be brought inside. Bringing a cart in from the outdoors, which already contains food waste, may bring insects with it.
3: WHEN TO USE
Consider material type, available resources, and viable alternatives.
Viable Alternatives
GoZERO is not for everyone. If you can, first reduce, donate, or compost your food surpluses onsite!
However, most people don't know how much food they waste, and fewer still have the space or resources, let alone the time, to compost. In a world where there will always be banana peels and apple cores – starting with composting and then using the immediate, measurable impacts as motivation for additional actions (e.g., being smarter about food purchasing, as informed by what you see going out in your food waste compost) seems like a strong idea.
Composting is the "do good, feel good" that is easier than exercising or dieting. When it's combined with food donation and reduction, it's even more powerful.
There's wisdom to be gained from comparing composting to beer brewing. Some people enjoy and are good at brewing beer. However, many more enjoy simply drinking it. In both the disposal of food waste and the use of finished compost, GoZERO's goal is to make the simple enjoyment of both as accessible as possible for all.
Please reach out if GoZERO can be a resource or help make connections related to viable alternatives to our services. We do pay our bills by charging fees for our services; however, our mission is to get food waste out of landfills by inspiring active stewardship.
Will as a Resource
Where there's a will, there's a way. What circumstances are ideal for GoZERO's services? Parties that want to do good, believe they can, and are willing and able to spend the dollars needed to do the work are a good fit for GoZERO's services. Those who work to ensure the service is used, not contaminated with non-compostables, and gets the exposure needed to be a point of pride among personnel, patrons, and constituents are where GoZERO works best.
The service costs money, but that's what makes it sustainable, reproducible, and most importantly, accessible when combined with onsite commitment. The service is broad-spectrum and disposal-centric, which means the focus is on making it easier for you to participate, not on cherry-picking some material over others.
Materials Accepted
GoZERO can accept vegetative material like fruits, veggies, grains, baked goods, pastas, beans, yard waste, and wood waste as well as meat, bones, seafood, food grade grease and oils, all dairy, paper (including wax coated but not plastic coated paper and cardboard), certified compostable plastics made from plants, and even animal waste if you happen to have any. Due to regulation, and the specific problems we're trying to solve, human poop is just about the only type of material that could compost that we're not permitted to take (we have friends who do if you need help with that).
This unusually long list of acceptable items is what we call "broad spectrum compostability." When combined with our emphasis on disposal and focus on customer service, it is a big part of what sets us apart from other food waste reduction and community engagement opportunities. It's the not-so-secret sauce behind how we're trying to get food waste out of landfills and inspire active stewardship.
We've made it all as simple and inclusive as possible, and we work hard to provide guidance on hard lines and pitfalls to avoid. If there is a more beneficial use for a particular waste stream, we'll help you find it, even if it means you'll have a little less material to be composted. Our proudest moment is when a location needs less service after starting composting because they've figured out how to waste less.
4: TAILORING SERVICE
We've streamlined the process of finding what's right for your location.
Cart Estimating
Even with an introductory usage-based pilot (details below), figuring out how many containers are needed is part of getting started, and that's exactly what we'll explain here. Over the last several years, a couple of rules of thumb have emerged for estimating initial cart counts.
Rule of Thumb #1 – For every 2.5 cubic yards of traditional trash generated, one GoZERO 64-gallon food waste disposal cart may be needed. For example, if one 8 cubic yard dumpster of trash is emptied twice per week at your location, you may need 7 food waste carts of service per week to accommodate your compostable waste ( i.e., 8 cubic yard dumpster x 2 times emptied per week / 2.5 factor = 6.4, rounded up to the nearest whole cart is 7 carts per week)
Rule of Thumb #2 – For every 2000 meals served, one GoZERO 64-gallon food waste disposal cart may be needed. For example, if 500 meals are served at a location per day, 7 days per week, you may need two food waste carts of service per week to accommodate your compostable waste ( i.e., 500 meals per day x 7 days per week / 2000 meals per cart = 1.75, rounded up to the nearest whole cart is 2 carts per week )
Rule of Thumb #3 – For situations where certified compostable serviceware is used, the number of meals per cart is reduced to 700. So, for example, if 500 meals are served per day at a location where certified compostable serviceware is used, 7 days per week, you may need five food waste carts of service per week to accommodate your compostable waste ( i.e., 500 meals per day x 7 days per week / 700 meals per cart = exactly 5 carts per week )
Rule of Thumb #4 – If you have an office or school where you'd like to compost paper towels from restrooms, it's a good idea to estimate one cart per week for every 100 people on location. For example, if you have an office of 100 people, you may need one food waste cart per week to accommodate your paper towels ( i.e., 100 people / 100 people per cart = exactly 1 cart per week )
Determining Service Visit Frequency
Once you have a sense of how many 64-gallon GoZERO disposal carts you may need per week, you should determine if weekly, twice weekly, or every other week service is right for you.
A couple of points to consider are:
Each cart takes up approximately a 2-foot-by-2-foot area. While the carts are easily tucked along a wall or behind other dumpsters, in larger numbers, they can take up a fair amount of space. Scheduling service more frequently will reduce the number of carts on site.
Less frequent service with more carts is more cost-effective. GoZERO's fees closely mirror their costs on a per-service-visit basis. Every time the truck shows up, the resources needed to get it there make the first cart the most expensive. For example, 3 carts serviced weekly will cost more than 6 carts serviced every other week, even though the net amount of disposal services is the same.
When temperatures are consistently above 50ºF, insects may be found inside carts serviced less frequently than weekly. Several practices can be implemented on site to discourage insects, and they rarely become an issue, much less a nuisance, even when carts are serviced every other week. However, if you have a location that may be sensitive to insect or food waste, and the waste is particularly savory or high-energy, scheduling service weekly or twice weekly is recommended.
Pricing Structure
In the interest of ease of use and accessibility, GoZERO offers standardized pricing for its routine 64-gallon rollout cart food waste-to-composting "courier" disposal service. Pricing is structured per service visit and per cart.
Service Charges:
Base price per service visit = $90
Additional charge per cart for carts 1 - 5 = $20
Additional charge per cart for carts 6 and up = $15
For example, one cart costs $95 per service visit, or five carts cost $155 per service visit.
Service includes cart emptying, complimentary cart washing (weather permitting and as needed), relining with a certified compostable liner, complimentary service data provided via Google Docs, feedback as needed on contamination or other issues related to service, and, of course, assurance that collected materials will be composted rather than landfilled.
Mileage:
A mileage fee ($3 per mile OR $150/hour, whichever is less) will be added to service visits if the location is more than 20 minutes from the service center, resulting in additional route time.
Core Area (no mileage fees): Logan, Franklin, Union, Montgomery, Lucas, Hamilton, and Clark counties
Standard Area (possible mileage fees, depending on location in county: Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Fulton, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, Warren, Wood counties
Extended Area (will likely incur mileage fees currently): other counties not listed above
These rates assume accounts are kept current within 30 days, GoZERO carts are passively accessible for servicing 24/7, the location itself is within 20 minutes of our existing service area, and non-compostable contamination is actively managed so that only incidental contamination occurs from time to time.
Introductory Usage-Based Pilot
GoZERO offers an "introductory usage-based pilot" for all new locations, with services provided on a per-cart basis until a baseline of need is established.
Once it's become reasonably clear how many carts at what service frequency are needed, a location will be transitioned to fixed-rate service to avoid monthly fee fluctuations.
Flexibility & No Long-Term Commitment
Another point of pride for GoZERO is that we do not require long-term contracts. Services can be increased, decreased, paused, or canceled at any time with ample notice. We're committed to winning your business and supporting your onsite program with every visit, every week.
5: PROCESS OVERVIEW
Relationships & Knowledge
Establishing strong channels of communication to answer questions and address needs (i.e., building relationships to share knowledge) is key.
Explaining composting to leadership, resolving a specific issue shortly after starting, or even coaching a new participant years into a program are all examples of effective communication that help ensure the success of a composting program.
GoZERO prides itself on equipping others with the answers and the ability to address issues independently, and on rising to the occasion when others' abilities exceed the needs. When in doubt, reach out —we're excited to help.
Estimate & Approval
After initially reaching out to learn more, the next step we find helpful is to walk through an estimate for services on a location-by-location basis.
GoZERO's Service Level Estimating & Setup Guide has been created as an aid in this process. Please note it speaks to both the estimating AND account setup parts of the process. Getting approval on an estimate before moving on to setup, while not required, may make the most sense.
Account Setup & Remittance
Once an estimate is approved, the real work begins. There are two significant areas of work to be addressed. The first is account setup, which typically includes sharing vendor/client information on insurance, taxes, billing, and payments, as well as additional program details and service location specifics.
GoZERO's Location Estimating & Account Setup Guide has been created as an aid in this process. Getting approval on an estimate before moving on to setup, while not required, may make the most sense.
As a final step in account setup, an introductory invoice, typically for cart delivery and the first four weeks of estimated service, is sent for payment to ensure all relevant setup has been completed and payment channels have been established. It's not required that GoZERO receive payment before starting work. However, confirmation in writing must be provided that the introductory invoice has been submitted for remittance as a safeguard against starting work without being set up to be paid.
Onsite Program Setup
Following estimate approval, in parallel with account setup, preparations are made onsite for the food waste composting program kickoff and ongoing management.
Cart Delivery
Once account and program setup are complete and a kickoff date is set, GoZERO will deliver carts, typically within an existing service route. Upon delivery, we confirm receipt of the carts and that the location is ready for the food waste composting program kickoff.
Program Kickoff
With setup complete and carts onsite, the only thing left to do is make sure leadership, routine workflows, and communication are ready to start and kick off putting compostable material in GoZERO's carts.
Planning to closely monitor the program, especially during the first 4 to 8 weeks, will help ensure the program gets off to a great start.
Visits
With the program's location kicking off and material beginning to appear in GoZERO's carts, routine service visits will be executed on the communicated schedule, service data will start to follow, and if any issues arise, communication will be quick and as supportive as possible.
Ongoing Communication & Coaching
GoZERO works hard to communicate continuously through standardized service data shared in a Google Drive-hosted spreadsheet and quickly by phone and email whenever issues arise. On location, establishing a cadence for communicating proper protocols, routine successes, and course correction in the case of issues arising needs to be in place and exercised with participants and other stakeholders for the best results.
Billing
Having established payment channels through the initial invoice, remittance confirmation invoices are sent monthly. Please be in touch promptly if you have any questions about an invoice, and thank you for your prompt payment. If invoices become delinquent, GoZERO will reach out to try to resolve the issue.
Is finished compost available to participants?
Yes! We've found that not everyone who has food waste to compost wants finished compost, and those who do typically only need it seasonally. So, we've separated our food waste disposal services from our finished compost and charged for each service individually.
If you'd like compost, GoZERO can provide nutrient-dense compost made from food waste in bulk or bags at a great rate as needed.
Where does material go?
GoZERO has relationships with licensed composters across the region and, in the past, has hauled material to third-party facilities. However, today, nearly all the material GoZERO collects is sent to the Andre Family Farm's food waste composting facility outside Toledo, OH.
6: ISSUE RESOLUTION
When issues arise, GoZERO prides itself on responsiveness and excellence in customer service.
Relationship & Communication
Relationships and communication are key, whether there's an issue with non-compostable contamination, a delay, low or high utilization, general questions, non-payment, or odor/wildlife concerns.
Cleaning & Compostable Liners
Complementarity cleaning carts, weather permitting, and providing compostable liners has been proven to keep carts tidy and issues to a minimum. Typically, we see dumpster areas become cleaner due to the additional containment and care our services provide.
Damaged & Missing Equipment
Equipment — specifically the food waste compost carts — breaks down and wears out over time, and that's GoZERO's responsibility to manage. However, from time to time, there is gross abuse leading to a pattern of broken wheels, cracked lids, or worn carts. If there is an issue with maintaining carts onsite at a service location, we'll be quick to raise a hand so we can course-correct together. There have been very few instances in which fees have been charged to help replace abused or neglected equipment.