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Tempe’s Solid Waste Services is changing the city’s compost buy-back program. Beginning in March 2023, the city will no longer sell compost at its Compost/Inert Yard located on Rio Salado; however, the city has contracted with a vendor that will continue to provide discounted composting services for Tempe residents.
Residents can visit Gro-Well Brands in Phoenix to purchase compost at a discounted rate starting in March 2023. Residents will need to provide proof of residency in the form of a current utility bill and ID.
10 percent discount off bagged compost
Product options and prices:
- 1 cubic foot of Gro Well Premium Potting Soilretail $8.99 (GW60456)
- 2 cubic foot of Gro Well Premium Potting Soil retail $12.99 (GW60480)
- 64 Qt Potting Soilretail $8.99 (GT21650)
- 2 cubic foot Composted Mulchretail $5.99 (GW61273)
- 1 cubic foot Regular Steer retail $2.99 (GW61143)
- 1.5 cubic foot Omni Seed Cover retail $7.99 (OMN71260)
- 1.5 cubic foot Raised Garden Soilretail $12.99 (GW 61660)
As Solid Waste services are relocated to the new Tempe Municipal Operations Center because of size limitations of the new facility, coupled with increased operating costs and declining interest in the program, processing of green organic materials into compost will no longer be feasible.
The city remains committed to continuing green organics collection for reuse and there will be no changes to residential curbside or bulk green organic collection services. The changes in the program will allow the city to meet the Council’s sustainability priorities while also prioritizing fiscal responsibility. Using third-party vendors will result in cost-savings that will be passed on to residential customers.
“Tempe’s City Council has set a goal to divert citywide landfill use by 20% by 2025,” Solid Waste Services Field Operations Manager Aaron Rebmann said. “The approaching changes will not alter the city’s commitment to meet that goal.”
Learn more at tempe.gov/compost.
Read more stories from the Phoenix Area on Signals A Z.com.
10%…. That is the typical corporate nonsense. As a Tempe resident, I believed this program could change the way large cities help its residents in facilitating greener initiatives. I was always so proud to tell others about this program and the good that came from it.
Now we are just giving away free product to another corporate machine, and the thanks for our work in helping Tempe become a cleaner city? We get a whopping 10%. Does that even cover the tax and price of transportation to get to the facility?
If this program really suffered before, it’s fate is now sealed.
I agree. I was so happy to learn about the program only a few months ago, and was disappointed to see the original compost information page missing from Tempe’s website. I used to tell many fellow gardeners about it. I can’t say at the moment whether the new pricing is a bad deal for residents, but knowing how these things go, it’s easy to see how this could end up being a really unfortunate choice.
I detest the use of the phrase, “declining interest,” in this story; the new location was difficult to access, the hours of operation were unusual, and the city did little to promote it or improve the process for residents. It didn’t have to go this way. Unfortunately, this is what a lot of us expected from some of the new councilmembers.