Boston Composting Wait List Grows as $500,000 Budget Gap Freezes Enrollment

BOSTON -- November 20, 2025, Boston composting programs are stalled by a $500,000 budget gap, leaving 638 households on a wait list. The City Council Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology, chaired by Councilor Enrique J. Pepén and co-sponsored by Councilor Sharon Durkan, held a hearing Thursday on Docket 1748 examining the future of curbside composting and the Project Oscar drop-off network. Dennis Roach, superintendent of waste reduction for Boston Public Works, told the committee that 27,547 households are enrolled in the curbside program, which costs $3.3 million annually and is contracted through Garbage to Garden, and that raising the budget to $4 million would allow the city to resume growth and clear the wait list. Processing costs run roughly $1,000 per ton. A $4 million ARPA investment to build an anaerobic digestion facility in Boston collapsed after the city could not identify a suitable land parcel, with affordable housing priorities claiming competing sites. MassDEP is expected to impose a residential food waste ban around 2030, increasing pressure on a program that is currently frozen.