Composting

Compost is a nutrient-rich soil amendment or fertilizer made from decomposed organic materials such as food, manure, yard waste and other compostable materials.  Organic materials in landfills are one of the largest contributors of methane gas, and are also some of the easiest materials to recycle and compost.

In Nebraska, yard waste is banned from landfills, which saves 150,000 tons of yard waste from going to the landfill annually. It is often mixed with sewage sludge and made into compost available to the public. Many municipalities have also added food waste to their compost operations. Click on your city below, or contact your local municipality for more information.

Omaha, Lincoln, Fremont, Grand Island, Kearney, Scottsbluff, Norfolk, North Platte, McCook, Beatrice.

Nebraska Compost Service Providers

The following companies provide food waste collection services in their general geographical areas:

• Lincoln:  Big Red Worms
• Lincoln: Waste to Energy Lincoln
• Firth/Lincoln: Prairieland Dairy
• Gretna/Omaha: Hillside Solutions
• Ashland: Soil Dynamics
• Seward: Burn Site and Compost Pile

Additional Resources

Everything you wanted to know about composting is at the US Composting Council:  http://compostingcouncil.org/resources/.

The University of Missouri Extension provides several methods for composting at home including how-to guides on worm composting: http://extension.missouri.edu/publications.

Want to set up a composting program at your business? Check out A Guide to Workplace Composting from Keep America Beautiful.