|
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — The City of Cleveland Heights announces it will expand its municipal composting pilot program with the addition of a second food scrap drop-off location at the Noble Road Library. The City will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Noble Library, located at 2800 Noble Road in Cleveland Heights, on February 18, 2026, from 5-5:30 pm to officially launch its second municipal compost site. This event is free and open to the public.
When Cleveland Heights launched its composting pilot program last September, it signed up more than 470 households for no-cost access to composting services offered by Cleveland-based company Rust Belt Riders. Participants have been using the location to drop off food scraps at Dave’s Market Severance Town Center location. Based on the usage numbers of the first compost site, the City decided to expand the program further to serve the Noble neighborhood. There will be four additional bins hosted there, bringing the Cleveland Heights diversion capacity to 12 bins per week.
“The launch of this new composting site is a significant step in our city’s efforts to reduce organic waste and its associated methane emissions. This allows us to test a scalable organic waste diversion pathway in our city, while providing an opportunity for our residents to engage in meaningful climate action,” said Andy Boateng, Cleveland Heights Sustainability and Resiliency Coordinator.
Reducing food waste and converting it to compost, a valuable soil amendment, is one of the action steps identified in the city of Cleveland Heights’ Climate Action and Resilience Plan. Also known as the Climate Forward Plan, when it was adopted in 2025, it set a goal of 30% reduction in carbon emissions by the year 2030. To achieve this goal, the City has embarked on several efforts. Some of these include the ongoing energy savings performance contract with Leopardo Energy, which has led to energy efficiency upgrades at our buildings and facilities.
The City is also pursuing five high-priority strategies in the Climate Forward Plan with its Public Works Department, including a business recycling pilot program at four sites across the city’s business districts to collect paper and cardboard.
Since the start of the municipal composting pilot in Cleveland Heights, 1.43 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) has been avoided from the Dave’s site, with 13,048 pounds of food waste collected, 76 bins swapped, and an increase in bins serviced from four to eight bins per week.
About the expanded pilot, Mayor Jim Petras said, “I’m excited that this expansion makes composting more accessible for residents of the Noble neighborhood. Expanding our composting pilot is one of the many ways Cleveland Heights is turning the goals of our Climate Forward Plan into real, everyday action. Programs like this reduce waste, lower emissions, and make sustainability something residents can participate in directly.”
| 
