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Welcome to the Food Scraps & Organics Pilot
What’s New
This pilot will end on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. Weekly loose-in-the-street yard trimmings collection returns on Thursday, September 1. Your garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings collection day will remain the same. For detailed information, view the endpoint letter.
REMINDER: Food scraps and kitchen organics will no longer be collected with your yard trimmings beginning September 1. We encourage you to compost at home. Visit www.bayfriendlycoalition.org for free classes and workshops.
NOTE: This webpage is for reference only. The information contained within this site no longer applies since the pilot program has ended.
Purpose
Almost half of the garbage going to landfills is organic material. Organic material, such as food scraps, coffee grounds, yard trimmings, dirty paper, napkins and plates, is a valuable resource that can be composted into a rich natural fertilizer for our soil instead of taking up space in our landfills. This rich natural fertilizer is Food for the Earth.
Food scraps and organics in landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, as they decompose. By offering a curbside collection program for food scraps and organics, this material can be recycled and turned into compost, thus, significantly reducing the type and amount of emissions from the decomposition of these products.
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Overview
In September 2009, the City Council approved this pilot as part of the Food for the Earth Program. The goal of the food scraps and organics pilot is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and eliminate methane emissions from the decomposition of these products in landfills.
This pilot requires residents to place yard trimmings in green carts for weekly collection instead of piling the material loose in the street. Loose-in-the-street collection will take place once a month for the occasional extras.. Food scraps and organics are being collected in compostable bags in the yard trimmings cart to ensure that the two types of organics; food scraps, kitchen paper products and yard trimmings can be easily separated and processed for their best reuse. A cart is necessary for the collection of food scraps and organics as it is unsanitary to collect them on the street.
This pilot includes approximately 5,000 single-family households (2.4% citywide) in Council Districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8. Pilot areas were selected based on neighborhoods representing San José’s diverse demographics, and specific areas with a large amount of shaded trees near storm drains with catch basins monitored by the City.
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How to Participate?
- Simply place ALL of your yard trimmings in the green cart for collection on the day your garbage and recycling carts are collected.
- Instead of placing food scraps in the garbage, collect them in your compostable bag lined food scraps pail, and place the sealed bag in the yard trimmings cart.
- If you routinely have more yard trimmings and bagged food scraps than fit into one cart, contact Customer Service at 408-535-3500 for assistance.
- Monthly Loose-in-the-Street Collection — The pilot program is supplemented with scheduled loose-in-the-street collection once-per-month (refer to your collection calendar).
You will not be charged for your green cart during the pilot program, even if you already subscribe to yard trimmings cart service.
You must be a resident in the Food for the Earth pilot areas in order to participate. Pilot residents were notified via mail in late January 2010.
Provide feedback at any time by calling Customer Service at (408) 535-3500, sending your comments to PilotInput@sanjoseca.gov or entering your comments in the feedback form.
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Food Scraps & Organics
- Simply place ALL of your food scraps and soiled kitchen paper products — fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, egg shells, coffee grounds, used paper towels, napkins and paper plates — in the kitchen pail.
- The food scraps pail should be lined with a compostable bag. This makes it easy to collect your food scraps and other kitchen organic waste.
- Place the sealed bag in your yard trimmings cart for weekly collection. Think of this valuable resource as Food for the Earth.
- Place food-soiled pizza boxes directly into the green yard trimmings cart
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Yard Trimmings
- Simply place ALL yard trimmings in the green cart for weekly collection.
- Place your yard trimmings cart out for curbside collection on the same day your garbage and recycling carts are collected.
- The City offers a service called “on-premise service” for residents who are physically unable to wheel their garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings carts out to the curb. Please call Customer Service at (408) 535-3500 for more information.
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