metroSTOR US metroSTOR US

Expanding Food Waste Drop-Off in Durham

metroSTOR enclosures integrated with CompostNow’s CompostHere app to support cleaner organics collection

At-a-Glance:

Location:  Durham, North Carolina
Client:  City of Durham
Program partner:  CompostNow
Application:  Public food waste drop-off infrastructure
Stations installed:   3
Access:  CompostNow’s CompostHere smartphone app at selected sites
Objective:  Expand food waste diversion while supporting cleaner drop-off operations

The Challenge

Many municipalities are exploring food waste drop-off programs as a way to expand organics diversion without the cost and operational complexity of citywide curbside collection.

Drop-off programs can be quicker to launch, lower cost than curbside service, and more accessible for residents who do not have curbside collection. But they also bring practical challenges. Public-facing sites can experience contamination, misuse, cleanliness issues, and limited visibility into who is using the sites and how they are performing.

For cities, the challenge is to make participation easy for residents while maintaining clean sites and usable material streams.

The Solution

To address these challenges, CompostNow partnered with the City of Durham to pilot a food waste drop-off model that combines metroSTOR secure enclosure hardware with CompostNow’s CompostHere digital access platform.

Residents use the CompostHere mobile app to:

  1. Locate a participating station 
  2. Unlock an access-controlled enclosure 
  3. Deposit food scraps into the internal collection cart 

The system was designed to keep participation simple for residents while giving the city and program partner more visibility into access, usage, and contamination response.

The Durham pilot also demonstrates that metroSTOR enclosures can be integrated with partner-managed access systems where required, supporting program flexibility without changing the physical infrastructure.

Key design goals included:

Introduction

The Deployment

Food waste drop-off program

Durham launched its program in 2024, supported by a food waste reduction grant.

The city installed three food waste drop-off stations:

  • Durham City Hall (downtown) – access controlled
  • South Durham park location – access controlled
  • City convenience center – open drop-off station

The program is free for residents and city employees.

Users register through the CompostHere mobile app, with access verified through address and ZIP code information and email confirmation. The City of Durham services the units directly and processes the collected food waste at its own composting facility.

The Results

The pilot shows how access-controlled drop-off can help expand participation while giving program managers more visibility into site use and contamination.

Benefits include:

  • Convenient access for residents without curbside service
  • Better control over use of selected sites
  • Cleaner drop-off operations
  • More targeted education when contamination occurs

For example, when contamination was identified at one station, program staff were able to narrow the issue to a small group of recent users and send targeted education to those participants rather than messaging the entire program.

Program Insight

Durham’s pilot highlights a broader lesson for municipal organics programs: where participation is voluntary, ease of use matters. Drop-off systems that combine secure physical infrastructure with a simple digital access layer can help cities expand food waste diversion while supporting cleaner material streams.

It also shows that infrastructure does not always need to be tied to a single software environment. Where cities or program partners already have a preferred access platform, the enclosure system can be configured to work within that wider program design.

Key Takeaway

Durham’s partnership with CompostNow shows how metroSTOR enclosures, used in conjunction with the CompostHere app, can help cities expand food waste diversion while giving program teams better tools to manage contamination, understand usage, and maintain cleaner public sites.

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