Collect food scraps in a compostable bag and place in the 7-gallon container. Set out for collection weekly by no earlier than 5 p.m. the day prior and no later than 6 a.m. the morning of collection. Collection day is designated day by contractor and can be found on the customer portal.

Acceptable items include:  

• All food scraps such as produce, cooked meats, bones, shells, dairy (no liquids), eggshells, baked goods, tea, coffee grounds and filters, and other food scraps.  

  

• Other organic materials including BPI certified compostable bags, paper towels, paper napkins, BPI certified compostable ware, paper food containers, corks, and chopsticks. 

  BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) is a third-party certification company. You can verify that products are certified compostable by visiting BPI's website and searching the Certified Compostable Products Catalog

Unacceptable items include:  

• ANY plastic (including bags).  

• Pet or human waste (including used facial tissues, used tissues, baby wipes, kitty litter, soiled bandages, or diapers).  

• Any toxic or pathogenic material: Medicine/Medical Waste, Paint, Pesticides, Treated Wood, Coal, Cigarette Butts, Chemicals, Diseased Plants, or Charcoal/Wood Ash.

• Unnatural materials: Candles and crayons, Cosmetics, Gum, Inorganic Materials (Acrylic, Polyester, Rubber, etc.), Rubber bands, Twist Ties, or Produce Stickers

• Wax and plastic-lined paper products (e.g. ice cream tubs and cartons)

For Yard Waste, Holiday Trees, Leaf Collection: 

• Please use the City's curbside yard waste, the City's Leaf Collection and Holiday Tree Collection programs. 

• For questions on other materials, please visit the City's Resource Recovery page to use our What Goes Where tool.

Download the Yes / No Flyer:

• English
• Español (Spanish)
• አማርኛ (Amharic)

During the pilot (April 2023 - April 2025), service is free and paid for by the City. The City will also cover the cost of the start-up kit including the 7-gallon air-tight cart and 40 BPI compostable liners. If residents would like to participate further, the cost is $21/month or an annual fee of $231, which includes one month free, billed by Compost Crew. This is a significant discount in comparison to the average price of $32/month in the region.

Up to 100 households currently exempt from payment of the Residential Refuse Fee and receiving tax relief and assistance will be eligible for receiving a twelve-month service subsidy along with the start-up costs, paid for by the City. Households must be receiving City trash and recycling services. After the pilot period, residents will have the option to discontinue service or participate through the discounted group rate at $21/month or an annual fee of $231, which includes one month free, billed by Compost Crew. 

As part of our feedback collected regarding the curbside collections program, the City heard from many residents who shared that they already participate in food waste composting such as composting at the farmers' markets or backyard composting. Curbside composting is one of the many avenues residents may use to compost their food waste. In order to be equitable with the costs, the City is providing a voluntary curbside pilot that is pay-as-you-throw model after the twelve month subsidy. 

HOA communities and Multifamily residents are provided solid waste and recycling services by the HOA or Multifamily owner, property manager, or agent.

As a reminder, all City residents may participate in the free weekend composting program at the farmers' market.

Still have a bin full of food scraps? Please make sure that your bin is free of contaminants like plastic or pet waste. If these contaminants are spotting in a bin, Compost Crew will not empty it into trucks for the safety of our drivers and our composting team. 

To report a missed pick-up, log in to your account and select “Report Missed Pickup”. Compost Crew's customer service team will work to make sure the scraps are picked up as soon as possible. Weather conditions and holidays may also affect pick-up schedules. 

Residents can login to the Customer Portal to schedule service skips up to 10 weeks in advance.

If residents decide to opt-in after the free twelve-month period paid for by the City and subscribe to the contractor's service, residents will be credited on their account the cost of that week's service.

The City already provides curbside yard waste collections and the food waste curbside composting pilot would be separate from these services. Yard waste that is set out in paper bags or rigid reusable containers are collected for composting, while yard waste set out in plastic bags are collected as trash. Please visit alexandriava.gov/YardWaste for more information. 

For Holiday Trees or Leaf Collection: 

• Please use the City's Leaf Collection and Holiday Tree Collection programs. 

Small amounts can be absorbed with paper towels and composted. Modest amounts can be poured into a plastic container with a screw-on lid and disposed of as regular trash. For larger amounts, consider asking a restaurant manager for permission to empty the oil into their used oil container or bring it to the City's Household Hazardous Waste Center.

All compostable materials are transported to either the Prince George's County Organics Composting Facility or the Balls Ford Road Composting Facility (Freestate Farms) for processing. Materials are placed in a composting system where they decompose and are transformed into a nutrient-rich soil amendment marketed and sold in bags or bulk such as Leafgro GOLD®. 

The City’s curbside composting program accepts additional types of food waste such as meat, seafood, dairy, bones, and BPI certified compostable wares that is not suitable for backyard composting. Residents who currently compost at home are encouraged to continue backyard composting. All City residents can also participate in the free weekend farmers' market composting program.

Here are some tips on controlling odors and pests whether it is for your green compost cart or trash cart (remember, we already collect food waste at the curb):

• Ensure lids are closed and bag materials.
• Put compostable materials in the refrigerator or freezer before placing them in the compost bucket. 
• Line your container to absorb excess moisture by layering newspaper, yard trim, or uncoated paper loosely.  
• Empty container weekly and rinse the green cart occasionally to reduce odors and avoid pests.  

Composting is the natural aerobic (with oxygen) decomposition of organic matter into nutrient rich soil.

Composting benefits:  

• Keep materials out of our landfills and waste-to-energy facilities.

• Produces finished compost which can be used for local gardens and farms.

• Help the City of Alexandria reach its WasteSmart and Environmental Action Plan goals. 

• Participants in the pilot will be delivered a complimentary bag of compost once a year!

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) selected the City of Alexandria as one of the 2023 Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreement recipients. With USDA's support, the pilot program will run for two years until February 2025 with the following objectives:  

• Divert food waste from trash  
• Provide accessible composting services to residents  
• Determine if curbside food composting is environmentally net-positive 
• Launch a Citywide food waste reduction campaign 
• Distribute finished compost to local community gardens and beds 
• Determine the interest of cost-sharing composting services
• Evaluate the food waste processing capacity in the region 

Since the launch of this program, the City has sent out a feedback survey to better understand how the pilot is going.  

• 98% of the survey respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with the program (72% are very satisfied) 
• 98% said that information regarding participation (e.g. collection day, set out location, acceptable list) was clearly communicated 
• ~90% said they'd be anywhere between slightly to extremely likely that they would continue their subscription after the free trial 
• Biggest written feedback has been positive, that it's easy, convenient, makes you think about how they can reduce waste 

Originally, the City launched this program with the goal of providing the set-up costs and free service for 6 months for 2,000 households. Given the current participation rates and demand, the City adjusted the first-year cap from 2,000 to 1,300 residents, and extended the 6-months of free service for a year. This adjustment to the pilot is also based on the feedback we received regarding the concerns of costs after the trial period.