As of November 1, 2017, all Evanston properties including businesses and commercial properties are eligible to receive food waste composting service through the City’s exclusive hauler, Collective Resource. Interested businesses and organizations can sign up online.

1. If you are interested in signing up for the food scrap composting service, contact Collective Resource directly by either filling out their contact form, or call Collective Resource directly at 847-733-7665.
2. The City is proud partner with Collective Resource to offer this food scrap composting service, which supports the City’s sustainability and climate action goals by diverting food waste from the landfill.
3. Collective Resource offers both a 5-gallon bucket service and a 32-gallon cart service. They provide collection schedules that are flexible, including daily through once-a-month pick-up frequency depending on your needs. Typically, residential customers receive 5-gallon buckets and commercial or institutional customers will contract for a 32-gallon cart service.
4. For a full list of what materials are and are not accepted in the program and how to properly prepare materials for pick-up please see the FAQ below or visit the Food Waste Do's and Don'ts.
5. To learn more about the service, service rates and to sign-up, visit: www.collectiveresource.us

Buildings covered by the Commercial Solid Waste Franchise include:

• Commercial businesses
• Mixed use residential and commercial buildings (any building, of any size that contains both residential (condos or apartments) and commercial tenants)
• Office buildings
• Apartment buildings that are greater than 6 units

Exemptions are granted on a case by case basis by the City’s Public Works Agency by calling 311 and asking for Edgar Cano, Public Service Bureau Chief.

The simplest way to determine whether or not your building or property is covered by the Commercial Solid Waste Franchise is to look at your invoice. If your invoice and service is provided by Groot Industries and your property is commercial, a business, institutional or a multi-family apartment residence greater than 6 units, it is likely you are covered by the franchise contract.

Rates for the renegotiated contract change annually and current rates may be found below for recycling, trash, roll off dumpster, and compactors. To find the rate of these services first locate your property's container size on the first column of the table and then cross reference with the first row of the table with the number of collections your property receives weekly. Please note that all prices provides are the monthly price for a given service.

A roll off dumpster is a large metal rectangular trash container, that has a top latch to block weather and rodents from the contents. A dumpster has four wheels so it can move large amounts of trash from a commercial propriety's trash collection area to a dump truck to be emptied and then back to the collection area. 

Roll off dumpsters that exceed cap will be invoiced $64.70 per ton.

Compactors are used to reduce the amount of trash volume by crushing trash, with hydraulic based pressure, to reduce the empty space between individual trash pieces. This helps to improve logistics for waste haulers and may decrease commercial service rates for trash and recycling. 

• Groot issues invoices on a monthly basis. Invoices must be paid must be paid within thirty (30) days of billing.
• As required by City ordinance, Groot provides one free 95-gallon recycling container that is collected once a week. It is the commercial property’s responsibility to display this container to be collected by the hauler at least once per week.
• Commercial property managers/owners are responsible for registering their containers annually with the Director of Public Works.
  • NAME, ADDRESS and TELEPHONE NUMBER are required, including NUMBER OF CONTAINERS, CAPACITY OF EACH, LOCATION OF CONTAINER(S). NAME and ADDRESS and TELEPHONE NUMBER of hauler (Groot) and FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION is also needed
• Collections begin as early as 6 a.m
• Collection days are mutually agreed upon by Groot and the customer
• If located in the downtown zoning districts, containers must be shut and locked, except when depositing or removing waste

2008 Original Commercial Solid Waste Franchise Agreement

2015 Commercial Solid Waste Franchise Renegotiation

The renegotiated contract is effective until October 31, 2020.