Residential Food Waste

Compostables: Yard Trimmings, Food Scraps, and Food-Soiled Paper

The Green Cart isn't just for yard trimmings, you can now add food scraps and food-soiled paper, too! These items will be collected and composted into a soil product. In order for this program to continue to be successful, please make sure we receive clean materials with no contamination (see list below). Each customer is assigned one 96 gallon green, wheeled compostables cart that is collected weekly at the curb.

Printable Residential Food Scraps brochure (PDF)

Accepted Material:

  • All food, food scraps, food-soiled paper (pizza boxes, donut boxes, napkins).
  • Compostables plates (Chinet and the very inexpensive paper plates are compostable, while plates with a petroleum or plastic lining are not).
  • Compostable plastics (PLA, Bagasse) that are certified as compostable by BPI. http://www.bpiworld.org
  • Grass clippings, flowers, leaves, weeds, brush, prunings, tree trimmings, and branches not more than 4 inches thick.
  • All material must fit into the container with the lid closed.

Tips for Success:

  • Wrap food scraps in newspaper or a paper bag before putting them into the cart. Paper absorbs moisture and odor, plus its compostable.
  • Layer/cover food scraps with yard trimmings.
  • Freeze or refrigerate wrapped food scraps before placing them in the cart and/or place the food scraps in the cart just before collection day.
  • Keep the lid closed.
  • Put the cart out weekly for service (even if it isn’t full).
  • When the cart is empty, rinse it out on a landscaped area using only water.

Proper Placement of Cart:

  • Place carts with wheels in the street in front of the curb, lid closed.
  • Make sure wheels are next to the curb or in the gutter and the cart is at least four feet from curbside recycling bins.
  • Keep lid closed to keep material from getting wet or blowing away.
  • Cart should be placed on the curb, not more than 24 hours before your collection day.
  • Customers with alleys should place their carts in the alley.

Larger Amounts of Yard Trimmings:

  • Piles of yard trimmings can be collected from the ground for an extra fee.
  • Piles need to be 4 feet by 4 feet and branches need to be cut into 4 foot maximum lengths.
  • If branches are thicker than 3 inches or you have logs, call our office for pricing.
  • PSSI also offers a backyard service and extra cart rental for a separate fee.

Unacceptable Items for the Compostable Cart:

  • Palm fronds
  • Garbage
  • Sod
  • Dirt
  • Rock/Concrete
  • Ashes
  • Human or animal waste
  • Bathroom and facial tissue

Compost Available

PSSI backhauls finished compost for residential customer’s use for a fee. Call us for more information.

Contamination Procedures: If the cart contains any unacceptable items, it will be tagged and will not be collected until the contamination has been removed. Once cleaned of contamination, the yard trimmings cart will be emptied on the next collection day.

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