PLANT DEBRIS & FOOD WASTE COLLECTION & HOME COMPOSTING
Residential Food Scraps
Residents can put food scraps into their green cart for weekly pick-up.
Participation is as easy as 1 - 2 - 3:
1 - Collect food scraps in your pail.
Line your pail with paper or compostable plastic bags.
2 - Empty pail into your green cart.
3 - Set your cart at the curb each week.
Beginning September 3, 2007, we will no longer provide paper bags for weekly plant debris collection. Bags may be purchased and set out for extra plant debris only. All residents must use a cart. Carts are now available in 32-gallon and 64-gallon sizes.
- Use green carts for garden trimmings and food scraps. Use only the City issued paper bag for extra plant debris or bundle tags. Any other kind of paper or plastic bag will not be collected!
- Bundles must be less than 5 feet long and 2 feet in diameter.
- Bags and bundles must weigh less than 50 lbs. each, to prevent injury to workers or residents.
PLANT MATERIALS ACCEPTED INCLUDE: Grass clippings, leaves, pruning, brush, garden trimmings, vegetables and fruit, palm fronds, unpainted/untreated wood, and sheet rock scraps.
KITCHEN SCRAPS ACCEPTED INCLUDE: All food scraps, meat, bones, food-soiled paper, and waxed cardboard. We can also accept clearly marked compostable plastics. Compostable plastic liners, or paper bags, used in the food scrap pail are accepted in the green cart. Do not include rocks, dirt, glass, metal, plastic, or any other non-plant debris.
Contact Refuse Customer Service to order a cart for garden trimmings and food scraps.
EXTRA PLANT DEBRIS: To dispose of more plant debris than will fit in your cart for weekly pick-up, you will need a pre-paid bag or tag for each extra bundle. These are available at the City's Transfer Station, Mondays - Saturdays 8 - 4:30, and Fire Stations on weekends. Puchases at fire stations must be made by check.
TRUCKLOAD QUANTITIES: Bring large quantities of plant debris to the City of Berkeley Solid Waste Management Transfer Station at 1201 2nd Street. Loads that contain only compost materials are charged a discounted rate. Compost material includes plant debris, pruning, unpainted untreated wood (nails are ok), pallets, unpainted sheet rock, waxed cardboard, food scraps and some papers.
Compost material cannot include plywood, painted wood, treated wood, tree stumps, plastic bags, trash, dirt, or other unsuitable materials.
Transfer Station hours are 8 to 4:30, Monday through Saturday (closed Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years' Day)
HOLIDAY TREES: During the month of January, you can place your holiday tree at the curb next to your plant debris cart. You may also choose to drop your tree off at the Transfer Station at 1201 Second Street at no charge to you! Businesses and residents of multi family buildings, who don't normally have plant debris service, can ask a neighbor for the plant debris pickup days or call 981-7270 for information.
Please remove all decorations, nails, tinsel and tree stands. Flocked trees and trees treated with fire retardant CAN be recycled. Trees over 5 feet tall should be cut in half.
After January, you can cut up your tree and put it in your plant debris cart, or for a small fee, you can bring it to the Berkeley Transfer Station.
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BACKYARD COMPOSTING
Backyard composting and plant debris collection programs are designed to complement each other. For more information about home composting call "The Rotline" at (510) 444-SOIL or (510) 444-7645 or, follow the link to the Alameda County Waste Management Authority web site.
COMPOST FOR BERKELEY RESIDENTS
The City's Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department offers free compost for Berkeley residents on the last Friday of each month from February through October, weather permitting. For complete details, see the annual flyer from Parks about this program: Free Compost for Berkeley Residents.
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