Barrington’s composting effort: ‘This is above and beyond’Composting program diverts dozens of tons of waste from landfill

By Josh Bickford - East Bay RI News

In less than a year, the curbside composting program that is co-sponsored by the town has diverted more than 59 tons of waste from the state landfill. 

The program — it is led by Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District, the Town of Barrington, and Black Earth Composting — started in September 2025, and has grown over the past 11 months. Stella Piasecki, the compost program coordinator and community garden coordinator for Eastern RI Conservation District, said Barrington residents have turned in an average of 1.3 to 1.4 tons of food scraps every week. That has led to nearly 60 tons of material in about 10 months.

In addition (and during that same stretch of time), Barrington Farm School has processed 35 tons of food waste. That is a total of 94 tons of food waste composted in the Barrington community. 

“That is a really, really great job,” Piasecki said during a recent interview. “To me, I think this is above and beyond… Barrington is doing such an amazing job.”

Those tons of diverted food waste can also be calculated into financial savings. Piasecki said the state charges $63 per ton in municipal tipping fees at the state landfill, meaning that the town has saved approximately $3,700 through the curbside composting program and an additional $2,200 with the composting at the farm school.

“That’s nearly $6,000 in savings,” Piasecki said. 

Piasecki also offered a snapshot of carbon dioxide emissions that were avoided through the first 10 months of the composting effort. 

“Barrington residents' composting efforts prevented 90,240-141,000 pounds of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere (where 1 ton of diverted food scraps for composting equals about 960-1,500 pounds of CO2 emissions),” Piasecki wrote in a message to the Barrington Times. 

More than 350 Barrington residents have registered for the curbside compost collection; Barrington residents pay a discounted rate of $66 for the first year, and will pay $100 for the second year. Black Earth Composting normally charges a resident $150 annually.

Piasecki and other officials involved in the curbside composting partnership are encouraging more Barrington residents to sign up for the program. Anyone registering before the end of August will see total savings about approximately $140 off the full price of the program. 

Piasecki wrote that there are about 140 spots remaining in the town-sponsored program. 

Part of the program

The curbside composting effort in Barrington is part of a pilot program that involves two other communities: Bristol and Newport.

Piasecki said that Bristol is offering a tiered approach similar to that of Barrington, where residents who sign up in the first and second years receive a greater discount. Piasecki said Bristol has about 250 residents enrolled; Bristol composts about 1 ton of food scraps per week, and through the first 10 months had composted a total of 30 tons. 

Piasecki said Newport is offering a different program to its residents — the curbside composting is being offered free to all Newport residents for two years. Piasecki said there are approximately 1,090 residents enrolled in the Newport program, which had set a goal of 1,500. Newport is composting 3.3 tons of food waste per week. 

Piasecki said program organizers want to see how the different composting models compare, determine which one works best, and then scale it up. Piasecki said the effort is still in the testing and data gathering phase. 

“We’re making strides,” Piasecki added. “We’re seeing the benefits.”