Food Scraps Collection

1. Collect food scraps using your kitchen caddy or any bucket in your kitchen. Line your collection containers with a paper or other compostable bag to help keep it clean. Compostable bags are available at local retailers. Plastic bags are not accepted.
2. Empty your bagged organics into your green cart.
3. Set out your green organics cart on the curb on your trash collection day.

The annual cost to add food scraps collection will be an increase of less than $12 per year to the Household Solid Waste Rate (HSWR). This is to cover the costs of collection and processing of the organic materials.

The food scraps collection program started with regular Monday trash routes on Sept. 6, 2021.

Food scraps collection provides the platform to increase awareness in each of our roles in reducing food waste and promoting healthy soils. Benefits include learning to make better use of leftovers, minimizing spoilage by storing refrigerated and perishable items properly, and most importantly, that each of us has a direct role in reducing food waste both inside and outside the home. The program will also help to divert food waste from being incinerated to being composted, helping to increase Arlington’s recycling rate.

Food waste, or food scraps, will include vegetables, fruits, peels and rinds, meats (including bones), bread, poultry, etc. – basically anything that we consume, plus things like greasy pizza boxes, soiled napkins, natural corks and even hair and fingernail clippings. "If it grows, it goes."

Residents will be asked to manage their food scraps in the green cart as they do contents of the black cart, which means ensuring that lids are closed and bagging materials if necessary. To minimize odors, remember to line your container with a paper or other type biodegradable bag to absorb liquid from food waste. Empty your container frequently and rinse it out occasionally.

Recycling organic waste into compost is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than using a garbage disposal. Arlington’s Water Pollution Control plant requires energy and resources to process out solids, including food waste. Food waste can also overload septic systems and cause problems.

Residents with curbside collection service have received a small container, known as a caddy, to collect food scraps in the kitchen. Place collected food scraps into your green organics carts along with your yard waste materials. The scraps can be placed into the carts loose or in paper or other compostable-type bags. The provided caddy takes bags that hold a minimum of 2.5 gallons (we recommend using 3-gallon bags) and 14” x 16”.

Arlington County has distributed a 2-gallon kitchen caddy and 10 biodegradable bags to all residents with weekly curbside collection service. The dimensions are  11.5” x 8.5” x 9.25”. The caddy comes with a lid to help prevent odors. See image.

The kitchen caddies that were distributed to residents have a capacity of 2-gallons.  We recommend using either 3-gallon compostable plastic bags or paper bags to line the caddy.  Compostable plastic bags should be certified as compostable by either the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) or the Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA).

Households that currently have a 32-gallon green organics cart will be able to upgrade to a 64-gallon cart. However, we don’t expect significant increases in the volume of materials going in the green cart. Tonnages will increase, but because food waste is very dense, the volume of organics collected should stay pretty level.

Residents will be able to set out any food waste in personal containers. Personal containers should be no smaller than 20 gallons and no larger than 32 gallons. They must have secure fitting lids and can be made of metal or sturdy plastic. Make sure to also clearly label the container as food scraps. Filled personal containers must not exceed the weight limit of 50 lbs. Food scraps in plastic bags will not be collected. Biodegradable bags are okay. Crews will not collect food scraps from caddies placed at the curb.

No, all green cart materials will continue to be collected on the same day as trash and recyclables. Residents will still need to adhere to set-out rules as detailed in Chapter 10 of Arlington County Code.

The materials are delivered to Freestate Farms, a permitted advanced composting facility in Prince William County.

Arlingtonians are able to deliver food waste to the Earth Recycling Yard at the Arlington County Trades Center from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Some farmers markets in Arlington may offer food scraps drop-off.