City of Somerville Food Waste Collection Pilot Program

The pilot will provide no-cost curbside food waste collection for a limited time. Eligible households must:

• be located within the pilot neighborhood in East Somerville
• be located in a building with 6 units or fewer
• not already have an active curbside composting subscription

Participating households will receive a kitchen container, curbside bin, and educational materials at no cost. Garbage to Garden will pick up the bin at the curb on your regular trash and recycling day.

Space is limited. Find out if your household is eligible today at somervillecomposts.com!

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Somerville residents who are ineligible for the City of Somerville’s curbside food waste collection pilot program can purchase a paid subscription through a vendor that offers curbside composting services. 

Food waste collection up occurs on your regular weekly trash and recycling day.

Compost bins can be placed curbside after 4 p.m. on the day before the scheduled pickup day, and need to be on the curb no later than 6 a.m. on pickup day. Empty barrels must be removed from the sidewalk by 7 p.m. on collection day.  

You can enter your address in the box below to find your weekly pickup day.

Collection will be delayed one day following holidays observed by the City of Somerville. View a list of 2025 holidays that will impact food waste, trash, recycling, and yard waste collection.

How it Works

Participating households will receive a kitchen container, curbside bin, and educational materials at no cost. Line your bin and start collecting your food scraps and other compostable materials! Use a paper bag or certified compostable liner. For a list of accepted compostable items, please see the FAQ or the How-To Guide included with your startup kit.

On your regular weekly trash and recycling pickup day, place the curbside composting bin on the curb with your trash and recycling bins for collection by 6 a.m. The City’s contractor, Garbage to Garden, will empty the bin at the curb. We recommend rinsing the bin each week after service keep it clean.

We’ll take it from there! Food scraps collected in Somerville will be processed into nutrient-rich compost at local farms and composting facilities.

Find out if you are eligible to participate in the no-cost pilot program and enroll at somervillecomposts.com or by calling (617) 977-4547 Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Once enrolled, Garbage to Garden will notify you when your service will begin.

Pilot program participants may receive short surveys to help the city better understand the community’s interest in composting and how a program could be expanded in the future. 
 

Program Partners

The curbside food waste collection pilot program is offered through a partnership between the City of Somerville and Garbage to Garden.

This service is offered through a partnership between the City of Somerville and Garbage to Garden.

City of Somerville Office of Sustainability and Environment: As described in Somerville’s Zero Waste Plan and Climate Forward 2024, the city has set a waste diversion goal to reduce the amount of waste generated in the city 30% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. In Massachusetts, plant and animal waste (and compostable paper) account for approximately 30% of municipal solid waste, so municipal composting is a key action toward the city’s waste diversion goal. Composting also promotes zero waste principles, raising awareness of consumer consumption and giving residents an opportunity to grow a culture of climate action that will make a difference in their community and beyond.

Eligible households can turn food scraps into compost and help the city plan for citywide food waste collection. By composting, residents can:

🚮 Reduce trash 
👃 Reduce odors from trash 
🐀 Secure food scraps from rodents 
🌱 Turn food scraps into soil 
🌎 Reduce climate pollution from food waste 
🤝 Support local programming

The pilot program is managed by the City of Somerville’s Office of Sustainability and Environment.

Garbage to Garden:  Garbage to Garden serves more than 40,000 households, schools, restaurants, businesses, and events across Maine and Massachusetts. Guided by a commitment to sustainability and the local economy, we make composting easy, approachable, and accessible for everyone.

The City of Somerville's food waste collection pilot program is provided by Garbage to Garden. Please contact them directly with any questions by calling (617) 977-4547 Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., or emailing info@garbagetogarden.org at any time.

Questions that Garbage to Garden can answer include, but are not limited to:

• How to sign up
• How to access or update your account
• Accepted items
• Service-related requests or inquiries
• Bin replacement requests
• Weather and holiday-related schedule delays

For service or account related inquiries, please include your service address so we can better assist you.

If you need assistance translating or understanding customer service assistance from Garbage to Garden, please call 311 (617-666-3311) or contact us at languageaccess@somervillema.gov. The City of Somerville can provide you with an interpreter for free.
 

• City of Somerville: Mayor Ballantyne Announces Curbside Food Waste Collection Pilot
• Waste Dive: Somerville latest to join list of Massachusetts cities with organics programs
• WBZ News Radio: Somerville To Launch New Food Waste Collection Pilot Program