What you need to know
All food scraps, plate scrapings, and food-soiled paper goes into your green bin with your yard waste for weekly collection.
Recycle and dispose of items the right way with Waste Wizard
Enter an item below to see how to recycle or safely dispose of it.
Allowed items
Food scraps
Checkmark Dairy products, including cheese and yogurt
Checkmark Egg shells
Checkmark Fruit and vegetable scraps
Checkmark Meat, bones, fish, and seafood shells
Checkmark Noodles, rice, beans, grains, and bread
Checkmark Plate scrapings
Checkmark Small amounts of oil and fat (soaked in paper towel or newspaper)
Checkmark Teabags, coffee grounds, and filters
Checkmark Tissue paper (no blood or fecal matter)
Food-soiled paper products
Checkmark Empty cereal boxes (no plastic liners)
Checkmark Paper bags (for lining kitchen containers, such as Bag-to-Earth)
Checkmark Paper napkins
Checkmark Parchment paper, wax paper, and waxed cardboard
Checkmark Pizza boxes
Checkmark Newspaper (for wrapping food scraps or lining kitchen containers)
Checkmark Used paper dishes (no plastic coating)
Not allowed
Fecal matter
X Animal waste
X Diapers
Plastics
X Compostable or biodegradable plastic bags
X Plastic bags, wrap, or containers
X Products made of Polylactic Acic (PLA) (containers, disposable plates, cutlery)
Important information The composting facility in Richmond cannot process any kind of plastic, even bags marketed biodegradable or compostable as it degrades the quality of the finished compost.
What to do with extra food scraps
- Order a larger green bin
- Drop off extra food scraps at the transfer station or landfill (fees apply)
- Buy a composter from the City and make your own compost
Important information If your green bin is overflowing, our crews may not collect it. Please make sure the lid can fully close.
Preventing food waste
Our region throws out 13,000 tonnes of healthy, edible food every year. All that effort, water, and energy? Wasted.
And that food rotting in our landfill? Creating methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Make a kitchen container liner
Use our Green Bin origami guide to make a liner for your kitchen container in 5 easy steps.
