Compost (Green Can) Service

• For food scraps & yard waste only
• Collected weekly
• Place your can at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on your designated pickup day
• Read our Compost FAQ

How it Works

Food scraps and food-soiled paper make up about 23% of Marin's residential waste stream. When you compost in your green can, your organic waste will be diverted from the landfill to create a rich and nutritious soil amendment that can be put back in the earth, closing the "recycling loop."

• Collect your food scraps and food-soiled paper items in kitchen pails, bowls or bins and then transfer the food scraps to your green compost can along with your yard waste.
• We empty your green compost can once a week and transport your organics to The Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center.
• Food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste are processed into Homegrown Compost, a premium, affordable compost which you can purchase directly from The Redwood Landfill's WM EarthCare™ Center in Novato.
• Gardeners and farmers apply compost to soil to improve moisture retention and nutrient value of soil. Plants grow... and the cycle continues!

Apartment and Condo Complexes Can Compost Too

Single-family residents have been composting their food waste for years now. Apartment and condo complex residents can participate too. Some that already are include the Cove Apartments in Tiburon, the Villa Tiburon apartments in Strawberry, Eucalyptus Knolls in Mill Valley, and Sandpiper Circle in Corte Madera, among others.

If you're a tenant in an apartment building or a condo owner, and your complex is not yet participating in our food composting program, just ask your property manager to call our office to start compost service. We will supply green compost carts at no extra charge to the existing trash bill. We can provide these services only if requested by a person authorized to order service for your complex (usually a representative of the management company whose name is on the trash bill). Tell the manager or property owner they may be able to reduce the cost of trash service by using Green Compost Carts and reducing the number of trash cans your complex is currently using.

Why Compost With Your Green Can

• To help reach Marin County's goal of diverting 80% of our waste stream away from the landfill.
• To preserve the life of Marin's only landfill by diverting a major component of our waste stream.
• To reduce the production of methane gas in the landfill, which contributes to global warming. (Methane is created when food rots in the airless environment of a landfill. It is not created in a compost operation because of the presence of oxygen.)
• More items (such as meat, bones and soiled paper) can be composted in this program than in an individuals typical backyard compost pile.
• Save water by eliminating the need to use household garbage disposals.
• You might be able to reduce the size of the trash can you require, saving you money.
• It may eventually lead to health code changes that would make it possible to pick up garbage less frequently, reducing the carbon footprint of hauling trucks.

Participate, Reduce and Save

MVRS offers a less expensive 20-gallon can rate for customers who recycle and compost so much that they do not fill larger-size cans with trash. You must purchase a new 20-gallon can from a local store if you wish to switch to the 20-gallon can rate. Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost as much as you are able to see if you can drop a can size and save money in the long run.

Don't Use Plastic Bags In Green Cans

Because food scraps and yard waste are being composted together, we can't pick up yard waste in plastic bags. If you have extra yard waste that you want taken away and composted, it must be placed in cans that we are able to dump out or large paper bags designed for yard waste (available in many stores).

Yard waste in plastic bags will have to be dumped as garbage at a charge of $8.00 per 32-gallon bag and will not be composted. Extra paper bags or 32-gallon cans of yard waste are $6.00 per bag (or can) to pick up.

Got Questions?

Please see our Compos