Compostables Collection 

The city's residential, seasonal curbside compost collection will resume on Monday, April 1, 2013 through Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.  Materials must be set at the curb before 7 a.m. on the weekly residential curbside collection day (new page). 

Methods for Compost Preparation

30-gallon paper bags

Place yard debris into large paper bags, available from local retailers. Each paper bag may weigh up to 50 pounds. Plastic bags are not accepted for storing compostables (plastic bags are acceptable for storing refuse inside of A2 Carts or dumpsters).

 

Bundled Brush

Brush and branches up to 6" in diameter and 4' long may be tied with natural twine into bundles up to 18" in diameter and 50 pounds per bundle.

 

Optional Compost Carts
The city sells optional wheeled carts for compost collection. The one-time cart purchase information is posted at www.a2gov.org/carts.  The city accepts a wider range of materials inside compost carts: fruit and vegetable waste, paper napkins, and uncoated paper plates and paper cups--as well as grass clippings are accepted for municipal compost collection ONLY in Compost carts. Compostables do not need to be bagged or bundled inside the cart.

Find out how to purchase an optional compost cart here (new page).

NEW! Use your compost cart to store fruit and vegetable scraps, napkins, handtowels, uncoated paper plates over the winter. Place a layer of leaves (or newspapers/a pizza box) at the bottom of the cart and add coffee grounds, banana peels, etc.,through the winter. Periodically cover the vegetative food scraps with leaves or an inch of dirt to eliminate fruit flies and odors. Roll cart to the curb in April, when the compost season resumes for the growing season. An informational winter compost cart flyer is posted here (pdf).

Acceptable Compostable Materials

Includes materials such as: properly-contained leaves, garden prunings, weeds, crab apples, Halloween pumpkins, and tree branches up to 6 inches in diameter. Grass clippings and fruit and vegetable food wastes are accepted only in compost carts.

Unacceptable Compostable Materials

Do not place the following items in the compost carts or yard waste bags: refuse, stones,  branches over 6 inches in diameter or over 4 feet in length, painted wood, treated lumber, plastic bags, plastic containers, and prohibited materials. No meat, fish, bones, dairy products, (milk, cheese, yogurt, sauces), oils, kitty litter, dog droppings, diapers.  

To avoid attracting wildlife, or creating odors and unsafe conditions of wet, overweight, broken bags at the curb, grass clippings and food wastes are not accepted in paper bags--these items must be placed inside compost carts.

Effective July 2008, labeled 33-gallon trash cans are no longer accepted for Compostable materials.

Fall Leaf Collection