Curbside Food Waste Collection

Curbside food waste collection began in 2022 as a pilot. Thanks to participants across the City, the program has been a great success, helping remove food waste from our garbage waste stream. 

To bring this service to more households, curbside collection will move to every-other-week. 

Many participants already use the service this way, and this change will allow people currently on the waitlist to join the curbside collection program and thus increase participation of more households

This change will increase the amount of food waste diversion from trash while reducing truck traffic and emissions in our neighborhoods. 

Thank you for being a part of this important effort. For those of you who prefer weekly curbside pickup, Garbage to Garden offers weekly collection for $5.50. You can see the plan details at bostoncomposts.com

Knowing which week is your collection week is simple when you download the Boston Trash App, available on the App Store and Google Play. You can search by your address on the boston.gov/curbside-food-waste page or boston.gov/trash-day.

Fill out this form and someone from our team will be in touch.

Garbage to Garden’s customer experience team is happy to help if there is ever confusion about your scheduled service day, they are here to clarify your collection day and support by scheduling a makeup service as needed. Garbage to Garden’s team can be reached at 617-977-4547 or boston@garbagetogarden.org.

Keep particularly odorous items in the refrigerator until collection day. Using countertop containers, tying off compostable bags, and rolling up paper bags are all great methods to mitigate odors. Best practice is to use the full starter kit as designed. Further FAQs on BostonComposts.com.

Additionally, the City of Boston has 20 Project Oscar locations where residents can drop their food scraps off 24/7. Check out boston.gov/project-oscar to learn more and find the location that works best for you. 

Those currently on the waitlist will be able to start using the service once your enrollment is confirmed. You will be notified via email when you are moved off the waitlist and can begin using the service.

The City is expanding access to this program to Boston residents with buildings that are 6 units or less. Enrollment will start in Fall 2026 after the waitlist is cleared. Please check back on the website for updates on the timeline. Garbage to Garden will begin clearing the waitlist in October. Then they will contact residents in the order they enrolled. Sign up for the waitlist here.

We always want to support your food waste diversion efforts and are happy to upgrade you from a bucket to a bin or provide a second bin to meet your household needs. Contact Garbage to Garden.

• Phone: 617-977-4547
• Email: boston@garbagetogarden.org 

Additionally, you can visit one of the 20 Project Oscar locations in Boston, where you can drop off food scraps 24/7. The code to open the bin is 2-1-4. 

Yes, Boston remains committed to a long-term food waste program. This change in frequency will make the program more efficient and allow us to continue to  provide reliable food waste collection service across Boston.

•  We only accept the following bags:

  • Double lined paper bag
  • BPI certified 
  • CMA certified
  • OK Compost certified 
    
    
    
    

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• Any kind of plastic bag is not accepted, for example: plastic trash bags and shopping bags (black, clear, or white). Using them might result in your food waste not being collected.
• Best practice is to store your food scraps in the fridge or freezer.

• Only place accepted materials in the bin.
• Contaminated bins will not be collected.
• Make sure the latch or lid of your bin is secure.
• Best practice is to wait to put out your food waste until collection day.

• Food waste is collected every other week. Use the schedule above or the Trash Day App (apple | android) to sign up for collection reminders. 
• Place food scraps in your green curbside bin/bucket, and bring it out for collection by 6:00 a.m. on your scheduled food waste day or after 5:00 p.m. the night before.
• Please place your green food waste bin on the curb next to your recycling and trash bins.

• Service for larger multi-family buildings can be arranged through a private contract between your building manager and companies offering commercial composting service.
• You may also drop off your residential food waste at any of Boston's 20 Project Oscar community compost bins.

• Yes, you need to use liners. This makes collection much easier for the drivers and helps keep your collection bins clean. You can choose to line either your kitchen container or curbside bin. You do not need to line both. If you do not want to purchase compostable bags, you can always line your curbside bin with a paper bag. 
• We will accept brown paper bags or certified compostable bags. Look for the BPI, CMA or OK Compost certified compostable logos. 
• You may NOT use plastic bags as liners. 
• The City of Boston does not provide bin liners to participants. You can find liners at your local grocery store or online. Once enrolled, you can also order liners from Garbage to Garden.

• To change your address, please email boston@garbagetogarden.org or dial 617-977-4547.
• If you no longer want to participate, we ask that you suspend your service so your spot can be offered to another resident. Please notify boston@garbagetogarden.org so that your position can be offered to the next resident.

We partner with Garbage to Garden to collect residential food waste. The food waste can go two different paths:

• Food waste can go to Charlestown, where it is turned into a slurry. That slurry is then brought by tanker truck to the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District where it is turned into both enough clean energy to more than power the whole facility and fertilizer.
• The other place food waste goes is to Brick Ends Farm to be made into compost.

Unwanted pests should not be an issue if your bin is properly maintained. The latch can prevent rodents and other critters from accessing your food scraps.

Using the fridge or freezer for temporarily storing food scraps can be an extra precaution for avoiding attracting pests to your bin.

Visit bostoncomposts.com's FAQ page or contact Garbage to Garden.

• Phone: 617-977-4547
• Email: boston@garbagetogarden.org 

The Curbside Food Waste Collection program accepts the same materials as Project Oscar drop off program.