Worthington Weighs Citywide Food Scrap Pickup on Oct. 19
Council holds a hearing on a five-year Compost Exchange contract priced at $3.28 per household each month.
Worthington City Council takes public comment at 7 p.m. Monday, October 19, on whether to add curbside food waste collection for every residential household in the city. A hearing notice the clerk posted October 14 covers Ordinance 30-2026, which would let the city manager sign a deal with TCE Columbus LLC, the company that does business as The Compost Exchange. The session is at the municipal building, 6550 N. High St.
The contract would run from January 1, 2027, through the end of 2031. In the staff memo in the September 21 agenda packet, Service and Engineering Director John Moorehead lays out how the city got here. Council told staff on July 20 to seek bids, bids went out July 31, and they were opened August 21. The city asked for two versions. One would serve every home in the city through a program paid for by Worthington and modeled on a SWACO pilot that Council heard about in May. The other would let haulers sell subscriptions to only the homes that want them.
Three companies bid on each version. The Compost Exchange came in lowest on the citywide option at $3.28 per home per month. On the subscription option, Local Waste Services and The Compost Exchange tied at $15 a month. Staff advised against that second route, noting that private food scrap plans already serve Worthington and some of them cost less than $15.
The memo puts the citywide program at about $207,000 a year starting in 2027. SWACO, the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, has offered up to $100,000 to help launch it, and after that money is spent the full cost falls on the city budget. Council voted unanimously on September 21 to table the ordinance until October 19 so members could see more of the proposed 2027 operating budget first, according to the post-meeting report. The same night Council passed the separate five-year trash, recycling and yard waste contract, where Local Waste Services was the low bidder at $21.74 per home per month.
For residents, a yes vote would mean food scraps go to the curb with no separate signup, beginning in January 2027. A no vote leaves composting to private subscriptions. Copies of the ordinance sit with the Clerk of Council ahead of the hearing, and the city asks for 48 hours of notice for accessibility requests.
Other Worthington news on the site: Joyas won its evening hours approval, and the city shares a Halloween plan with Grandview Heights in our trick-or-treat dates story. Browse the Worthington hub or the City section for more, and look for the result here once Council votes.
