Curbside Compost Club Terms of Service

By registering for a Curbside Compost Club Subscription (hereinafter “Subscription”) through our website, you agree to be bound to the following Residential Terms and Conditions. CCC reserves the right to change, update, and revise any portion of the Residential Terms and Conditions at any time, at its sole discretion, by posting the most current version of the Residential Terms and Conditions on our website. 

Curbside Compost Club will provide pickup of compostable waste at your registered location as well as pickup of your additional yard waste (please see our list of approved items.)

Residents living within contracted areas and SIDs may have additional or different service requirements. Please reference the neighborhood guide on our website for details applicable to your neighborhood.

1. Contamination Policy (Our #1 Concern)

Keeping our compost stream clean is our absolute top priority. We haul compostable material to Soil Dynamics, which is an industrial composting facility. The material will be blended and then sent out to local farms to act as organic fertilizer. What you provide goes directly into creating healthy soil. Plastics, glass, and standard trash ruin the composting process. * 10% Tolerance: Contamination (plastic bags, styrofoam, standard trash, glass, etc.) in your compost cart will result in no pickup for that week. Refer to the full list for clarity (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GDNs5O3XORMBux8VCUrMBj9_nduDBWsl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109294476179766732020&rtpof=true&sd=true) 

  • Customer Responsibility: It is entirely your responsibility to remove the contamination before the following week's scheduled service.

  • Contamination Penalties: If our drivers find contamination hidden in your cart that is subsequently emptied into our trucks, a $25.00 contamination fee will be automatically added to your next invoice. Repeated contamination offenses will result in immediate suspension or cancellation of your Compost Club membership.

2. Acceptable Compost & Set-Out Requirements

To ensure smooth service, please stage your containers and have them ready for pickup by 5:00 AM on your collection day (we highly recommend setting them out the night before).

  • Acceptable Material: You agree to only put acceptable compostable material in your curbside cart. Please click here to see this list of acceptable compostable items. (Grass clippings, leaves, small branches, and food scraps.)  

  • Bagging: All compostable material must be placed directly into the cartloose, or in approved paper lawn bags or BPI certified compostable bags. Bags labeled “biodegradable” but not certified compostable by BPI will not be accepted and will be considered contamination. 

  • Extra Bags: Our drivers will collect extra yard waste bags placed outside of the carteach week. We will not pick up yard waste in plastic bags.

  • Can Placement: Space carts at least two feet apart from each other and surrounding obstacles (mailboxes, poles, etc.). The lid of the container must be closed.

  • Weight Limits: Our trucks cannot empty carts weighing more than 200 pounds. Cans above 200 pounds are also a safety hazard for our employees. Extra paper bags must not weigh more than 40 pounds each.

  • Free Drop-off: As a GSI customer, you are always welcome to drop off yard waste with our sister company, Soil Dynamics, at no charge.

  • Contamination: If your cart contains anything that is not acceptable compostable waste we will not take the entire contents of the cart. Contamination includes plastic, styrofoam, metal, etc. Please see this full list of accepted and unaccepted material (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GDNs5O3XORMBux8VCUrMBj9_nduDBWsl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109294476179766732020&rtpof=true&sd=true).

3. Weather Cancellations & Holidays

We make every effort to provide service as conditions allow, but we will not risk the safety of our team or equipment if roads are unsafe.

  • Weather Delays: Cancellations or postponements due to weather, disasters, or emergencies will be posted to our Facebook page and sent via email. No billing adjustments are made for weather cancellations.

  • Wrecker Fee: If we accommodate a customer by traveling down a long private driveway/lane in poor conditions and our vehicle gets stuck, a wrecker fee of up to $500 will apply.

  • Holidays: When a recognized holiday lands on a weekday (Memorial Day, Labor Day, New Year’s Eve, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day), your pickup day will be pushed back by one day for the remainder of that week. Visit our website for the current year's holiday schedule.

4. Billing, Rates, and Fees

Bills are emailed 15 days in advance of every month, and payment is due within 16 days from the invoice date. Please check your spam folder to ensure you are receiving our invoices. Unpaid accounts will face service suspension and will eventually go to collections.

FEE SCHEDULE

Payment Convenience Fee — Up to 3.5% Applied to all payments.

Residential Late Fee — $12.50 Residential accounts unpaid past the 10th.

Commercial Late Fee — $27.50 Commercial accounts unpaid past the 16th.

Contamination Fee — $25.00 Non-compostable material loaded into our trucks.

Returned Check Fee — $25.00 Any check returned by the bank.

Equipment Return — $25.00 Cart pickup upon cancellation.

Lost / Damaged Cart — $100.00 Missing or customer-damaged equipment.

Questions about a charge? Call us at 402-332-4710 ext 6 — we're happy to walk through your invoice.

5. Cancellation & Equipment Retrieval

You must notify our office by phone at 402-332-4710 ext 6 at least 30 days in advance if you plan to move, cancel, or transfer service. If bins are not returned they will be treated as lost or stolen.  You may drop off at the one of our locations for free or we will pick up for a fee.  Written notifications are not accepted, as we must coordinate the removal of our equipment. We reserve the right to cancel your subscription due to a failing payment; contamination; or for other unspecified reasons.

  • Accrued Charges: You remain responsible for accrued monthly charges until we receive verbal notice.

  • Equipment Return: Upon cancellation, you may drop the carts off at our office (21824 Williams Cir, Gretna, NE 68028) for free, or we can retrieve the empty carts for an infrastructure fee of up to $25.

  • Return Trip Fee: If carts are refilled after your final service date or are not visible from the street for retrieval, a $30 return trip fee will apply.

  • Refunds: Refunds for prepaid services will be issued within 60 days of cancellation, provided all equipment is returned in acceptable condition. Customers under contract will be billed for the remaining term of their contract.

6. Miscellaneous

  • Finished Compost: As part of your subscription, you are given “Compost Credit” that allow for 3 cubic feet  of finished compost, soil, or mulch per year. Credits renew at the start of the year, regardless of when you became a subscriber in the previous year. Your Compost Credits are redeemable at the Soil Dynamics Yard (times and wayfinding instructions here: https://www.soil-dynamics.com/contact-and-locations#downtown-omaha-yard). You may also elect to donate your Compost Credits to eligible non-profit food gardens through Hillside’s Compost Club Gives campaign. 

  • Electronic Communication: When you visit our website or send emails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. We will use your email address on file to notify you of matters related to your compost collection, such as service delays due to weather, change in pickup day, compost events, etc. We will occasionally send out newsletters and promotional emails. If you would like to be removed from promotional emails you must contact us. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.