Curbside Composting

Food composting is now mandatory — please include the food in your brown or green compost cart!

¡Incluye la comida! Toda la información en español está aquí.

We turn your food scraps, yard trimmings and other organic material into compost right here at our Napa facility! Check it out in this video!

You can also purchase organic compost from our program.

What can you compost? A lot, see our complete list! Customers can put all food items (including meat/bones, dairy, bread, fruit & veggies), food-soiled paper, paper cups & plates, paper towels & napkins, coffee grounds & filters, tea bags and yard waste in the brown compost cart.

Food Composting Is As Easy as 1-2-3!

Step 1: Place your kitchen compost pail in a convenient location in your kitchen. For best results, empty daily or line your container with newspaper, paper bags, or approved compostable bags. Collect food scraps while preparing meals, scraping plates and cleaning out the refrigerator of unwanted leftovers or spoiled food. Remember to include paper towels, napkins, paper plates and coffee cups. It all adds up!

Step 2: Empty your kitchen compost pail, including the liner, into your brown or green compost rolling cart as frequently as you like. Place your cart out for weekly pickup on your regular collection day.

Step 3: Our trucks service your carts and bring the food scraps, soiled paper and yard waste to our Napa Recycling & Composting Facility, where it is processed into organic compost. The compost is used as a soil amendment for landscaping, gardens, farms & vineyard — closing the loop locally and sustainably!

Kitchen Pail Tips

  • Use your kitchen pail, or any container of your choice, to collect all food scraps and soiled paper.  Need a pail?  Pick one up for free at our Napa Payment Center at 598 Lincoln Ave (limit one pail per household).  Your pail comes with this informational flier (PDF) highlighting its features and how to adjust it for ease of use. Here is a video showing some of the features. More information is available at www.sure-close.com.  You can also reuse any appropriate-sized container that you have at home.
  • Compostable bags, paper towels or newspaper work great at keeping kitchen pails and compost carts clean. Any compostable bag used as a liner must carry the Biodegradable Products Institute’s “compostable” symbol. The terms “biodegradable” and “compostable” are not used consistently and reliably in the marketplace and the BPI “compostable” symbol offers the highest assurance of compatibility with operations at Napa’s Compost Facility.
  • Our List of Retail Locations has local options for buying certified compostable bags (please note that retail locations and availability change and all updates may not be on this list). You can also purchase compostable bags from many online retailers. The pail can use any 3 gallon or less certified compostable bag — here is a list of certified compostable bags.
  • Our Food Composting Program Brochure (PDF) and Composting Tips – Beat the “Ick!” (PDF) have more info on keeping pails and carts clean.

Can’t I just use my garbage disposal for food scraps? 

Disposals aren’t meant to handle large quantities of food. Sending food into the sewer requires additional water to flush the food down the drain line. Conserve water by collecting your food scraps for composting. By doing this, not only do we protect the environment, but we also capture personal cost savings for using less water and community savings from less wastewater treatment costs. Soiled paper, bones, seafood shells, fruit pits, and fibrous food scraps, as well as fats, solidified oils, and grease (FOG) should never be put down the drain, but can definitely be placed in your compost pail. In particular, FOG can cause sewer blockages leading to spills and overflows, which are harmful to the environment and public health. Give our sewer system a break and compost your food scraps instead!

For more information on the food composting program, here is our full Food Composting Program Brochure (PDF), y la información en español.