Curbside Food Waste Composting
The City of Alexandria is excited to announce the continuation curbside food waste composting collection for residents receiving City trash and recycling services after the successful completion of the pilot program. Registration for the program is now OPEN, and collections are already underway. Residents can place items such as fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, and bones in a dedicated bin for food waste collection instead of putting these materials in the trash.
The City will cover the cost of supplies and subsidize 75% of the collection cost to bring the program cost for participants to $5 per month, or $55 per year.
How It Works
1. Register for the Pilot
Residents who currently receive City trash and recycling services (residential refuse fee paying customers) will be able to opt in to the curbside food waste collection program. Eligible households that sign up will be enrolled on a rolling basis until the maximum capacity of the program is reached.
2. Account Set-up
Once a resident is accepted into the program, the City will email the resident with a link to set up an account on Compost Crew's customer portal. The registration page will require a credit card. At any time, the residents will have the option to cancel service. Residents will be billed $5 per month, or $55 per year. This is a significant discount in comparison to the average price of $32 per month in the region.
Reminder: all City residents can use the free composting services at the farmers' market every weekend.
3. Receive Start-up Kit
The City will provide a start-up kit consisting of an airtight 7-gallon cart and 40 BPI compostable bags for free. Residents will also receive a magnet with Yes / No list for use.
Download the Yes / No Flyer:
4. Compost!
Participants will separate food waste from trash, place the items in a compostable bag in the provided bin, and leave the composting bin by the curb on the designated day of the week. The City contracts with Compost Crew to manage the program, who provides weekly collection services along with addressing issues such as delivery of the containers and missed collections. Each household can request a complimentary bag of finished compost once per year on Compost Crew's customer portal.
What can I compost? Yes/No List
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:
Frequently Asked Questions
How, when, and where do I compost my food scraps?
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.
What can I compost? Yes/No List
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, including 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:
How much will it cost?
Curbside compost service can be added to residential trash and recycling services after July 1, 2025 for $5 per month, or $55 per year – close to a 75% discount when compared to the regional average of $32 per month for the cost of curbside compost collection. In addition to weekly food waste pick-up service, participants also receive a free start-up kit containing a 7-gallon collection container and 40 BPI compostable bags, and an annual, complimentary bag of finished compost.
Why doesn't the City provide free service to all residents?
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 program at a nominal cost to participants.
Why isn't the pilot extended to HOA communities or multifamily properties?
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.
What should I do if my bin isn't emptied?
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 spotted in a bin, Compost Crew will not empty it into trucks for the safety of drivers and the 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 receive notice of service updates through T&ES social media accounts and eNews updates.
If I go on vacation or haven't filled my bin, can I temporarily suspend my service?
Residents can log in to the Customer Portal to schedule service skips up to 10 weeks in advance.
Residents will be credited the cost of that week's service on their account.
Can I compost yard waste?
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.
Can I compost leftover cooking grease and oil?
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.
What happens to my compostable materials (food scraps) once they are collected?
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®.
How is the curbside composting program different from other City composting programs?
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.
How do I control odors? What about rodents?
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.
What are the benefits to composting?
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!
What was the purpose of the pilot program?
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 ran 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
Have there been any updates to the pilot since launch?
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
Due to positive resident feedback and high participation rates during the pilot program, the City of Alexandria continued curbside food waste collection as a permanent program from February 2025 onwards.