Residential Services
EDCO’s New Organics Recycling Program Collects Food Scraps and Yard Waste Mixed Together in Your Green Cart
Lakewood Residential Organics Coming Soon Mailer
Organics Collection:
Residential customers receive one GREEN 96-gallon organics cart or a smaller size for residents with space or storage constraints. Please note that up to two additional green carts are available at no additional cost. Residents requiring a fourth ninety-six-gallon cart or more may request additional green carts for a nominal monthly fee.
Residents may also place out tied bundles at no additional cost. Bundles must be tied securely with string or twine and be less than 4 feet long and less than 18 inches in diameter.
Use your green collection cart to separate landscape waste, food scraps, and other organic materials for collection each week on your scheduled EDCO service day and set out by 6 a.m.
96-Gallon Cart
appx. 35.75" x 29.75" x 43.25"
64-Gallon Cart
appx. 31.75" x 24.25" x 41.75"
32-Gallon Cart
appx. 24.25" x 19.75" x 37.50"
NEED MORE CARTS? Click here and fill out EDCO’s Contact Us form to order more green carts.
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Place recyclable organics directly into your designated green collection container. Do not use any kind of plastic bags (including certified compostable or biodegradable bags) for any type of green waste, food waste, or other organics collection or disposal, as they contaminate the compost! All organic material must be placed loosely inside the green container for collection. Paper bags are acceptable.
Please do not place any of the following materials in your green cart:
- No plastic bags.
- No trash or hazardous waste.
- No animal waste.
- No dirt, rocks, asphalt, concrete, sand, etc.
- No treated or lead-based painted wood or lumber.
Organic Waste
Organic waste is a renewable natural resource. It mainly comes from yard and kitchen waste from homes, and food waste and scraps from industrial and commercial operations. Mandatory recycling of organic waste is the next step to achieving California’s Zero Waste goals. Recycling organics will be easy and convenient with EDCO’s commingled Organics Recycling program.
EDCO will expand the source-separated green waste collection to include the recycling of food waste. The service will allow customers to place food scraps in the same container as green waste. EDCO’s new Organics Recycling program will be a foundation for your community to achieve State mandates, including AB 1826, AB 1594, and SB 1383, which are directly related to organics recycling in the State of California.
EDCO’s Food Waste Recycling Video
To learn more about EDCO’s new Organics Recycling Program and how it will significantly impact the future of organic waste, please watch our informative video.
Why Recycle Food Waste?
Organic waste accounts for over 40% of the material in California’s waste stream. Organic material cannot break down when buried in a landfill, as it would in nature or in a compost pile because it decomposes without oxygen, releasing methane gas into the atmosphere. In an organics recycling program, organic waste is recycled into valuable compost or mulch used for soil restoration, or it can be recycled by anaerobic digestion, producing nutrient-rich biofertilizer, renewable energy, and even fuel.By recycling food waste, you are extending valuable landfill space, which also reduces CO2 emissions and preserves our environment!
What Will Go in the Green Cart?
Below are just a few examples of what will be able to be placed in your green cart.
Food Scraps
Cooked or raw meat, poultry, and seafood (including bones), cheese, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, grains, pasta, eggshells, bread, coffee grounds, tea bags, tea leaves, baked goods, nuts, jelly, candy, snack foods, leftovers, spoiled food.
Food-Soiled Paper
Paper bags, paper napkins, paper towels, paper plates, paper cups, paper take-out containers and take-out boxes (with no plastic or wax coating, and with metal removed), coffee filters, tissues.
Yard Waste
Grass clippings, small branches, small tree limbs, tree roots, flowers, leaves, plants, straw.
What Can You do Now?
In the United States alone, a shocking 40% of food is uneaten, wasted, and discarded. We as consumers are the largest producers of food waste, believe it or not, exceeding grocery stores and restaurants combined! So, the smallest changes add up and make a huge difference. Food Finders is a non-profit food recovery organization with the mission of eliminating hunger and food waste while improving nutrition in food-insecure communities. This supports pantries, shelters, agencies, missions, and more within a large part of the Southern California region. Food Finders coordinates all logistics of picking up and distributing your donated food, delivering same-day to a partner agency within your local area. No amount of food is too small or too big, whether it’s perishable, nonperishable, or prepared food. To learn more, call (562) 283-1400 or visit foodfinders.org.
Request a Kitchen Caddie
Residents can request a Kitchen Caddie for convenient transfer of food scraps from the kitchen to the organics cart or compost pile.
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