Want to Compost Your Food Scraps in the City of Alexandria?
The City of Alexandria, Virginia launched a curbside food scrap collection pilot in 2023 after the USDA selected the City for its Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreement. After a two-year successful pilot and over 1,200 residents composting, the City announced its move to a subsidized weekly service!
Who is eligible?
The program is open to anyone who lives in the City of Alexandria and is receiving the city’s trash and recycling services. You must be able to place your bin outside your yard close to the parking area for collection by the Compost Crew.
How does it work?
Instead of sending waste to local landfills, residents will be able to place items such as fruit scraps, vegetable scraps, meat and bones in a dedicated 7 gallon bin for food waste collection. 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. Compost Crew will pick up your food scraps weekly.
Participation in the program helps Alexandria reduce food waste going to the landfill. Food waste decomposing in landfills is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Compost with your Neighbors in the City of Alexandria
Collect
Similar to a recycling service, we collect food waste and other organic material from the local community to be composted and reused. We collect from both residential and commercial customers.
Compost
Nearly 40% of our solid waste may be composted! We use cutting edge technology and techniques to compost everything from meat and dairy products to grains and oily foods, soiled napkins, and more.
Cultivate
Finished compost can be used in the garden in your backyard to the crops on our local farms. It provides a slow release of nutrients and provides a strong and fertile foundation for plants to flourish.
FAQ
What is composting?
Composting is the natural aerobic (with oxygen) decomposition of organic matter into nutrient rich soil. We collect food scraps from your home or business weekly and get them into the composting process and out of the landfill. Why compost?
- Composting diverts our food scraps from landfills and incinerators.
- Our landfills are filling up, leading to longer and longer hauling distances, higher greenhouse gas emissions, higher waste management costs, and less space available for our trash. Food waste constitutes 22% of discarded municipal solid waste in America.
- When food scraps are left in a landfill or incinerated they release methane, a greenhouse gas that is 80 times as potent as CO₂.
- Composting is a sustainable alternative that puts the nutrients from our food scraps back into the earth and, eventually, our food system by using the finished compost as a fertilizer for local farms.
- Composting is the final step to completing a truly sustainable food
What can I compost with Compost Crew?
In short, you can compost all types of food — yes, including meat and dairy — and soiled paper products. Take a peek at our graphic list below and download!
For a comprehensive list, click here. We also have a translated the list into Spanish.