Seasonal guide
What to do with old pumpkins after Halloween
Compost them if you can. Pull out candles and decorations first, then use a backyard pile, a curbside cart that lists pumpkins, or a seasonal pumpkin drop-off. Whether pumpkins belong in yard waste depends entirely on your local program.
Updated October 3, 2026
Short answer: compost it, and check before using the yard waste cart
A plain or carved pumpkin is food scrap. It can go in a home compost pile, an organics cart or yard waste cart if your program accepts pumpkins, or a pumpkin collection run by a city, county, or extension office. The trash is the fallback when none of those are available, or when a pumpkin is too decorated for the program you have.
Before any of those, remove candles, wax, ribbons, stickers, and plastic. Painted pumpkins are where programs disagree most, so read the rules for the specific bin or event.
Why pumpkins should stay out of the landfill
The U.S. EPA estimates that food is about 24 percent of the municipal solid waste disposed of in landfills, and that about 58 percent of the methane escaping from those landfills comes from food waste, because it decays quickly. A pumpkin in a compost pile breaks down with air instead.
Dublin, Ohio, says residents brought 111,260 pounds of pumpkins to its collection container in 2025, and all of it went to a composting facility instead of a landfill.
Can pumpkins go in yard waste or the organics cart?
There is no national rule. Some yard waste processors handle pumpkins and some do not, so two nearby cities can give opposite answers. These official examples show the range:
Yes, in yard waste: Coralville, Iowa
The city lists pumpkins and gourds as yard waste. Remove candles and other decorations, and keep each bag or container under 40 pounds.
Yes, in the organics cart: Brooklyn Center, Crystal, and New Hope, Minnesota
Hennepin Recycling Group says pumpkins can go in a backyard compost bin or the organics recycling cart, with candles, wax, and decorations removed.
No, use the pumpkin container: Dublin, Ohio
Pumpkins cannot go out with yard waste pickup because the yard waste processors do not accept them. The city runs a pumpkin container at its service center instead.
No, use a seasonal bin: Cuyahoga County, Ohio
The county solid waste district tells residents not to put pumpkins in yard waste collection and places 20-yard pumpkin containers at drop-off sites after Halloween.
Year-round yard waste sites may also take them. Ramsey County, Minnesota, lists pumpkins among the materials accepted at its yard waste collection sites. If your city has a yard waste drop-off, check its accepted list for pumpkins or food scraps.
Prep the pumpkin before it leaves the porch
- Take out candles and scrape out melted wax. Remove ribbons, stickers, glitter, wire, and plastic decorations.
- Check the paint rule. Cuyahoga County refuses painted, bleached, chemically treated, or marker-drawn pumpkins. Will County's November 7 event asks you to remove paint, candles, bags, and other decorations before drop-off. At Hidden Oaks Nature Center, synthetic paint is not accepted and tempera-painted pumpkins are set aside.
- Leave pumpkins unbagged at drop-off bins unless told otherwise. Cuyahoga County's containers accept only unbagged pumpkins and gourds, with no cornstalks, hay bales, or other yard waste mixed in.
- For curbside carts, follow the cart's own bag and weight limits. Coralville caps yard waste bags and containers at 40 pounds.
2026 pumpkin drop-offs we confirmed
These dates and sites come from the organizers' own pages as of October 3, 2026. Events can move for weather or staffing, so check the linked page before you load the car.
- Cuyahoga County, Ohio: October 30 to November 10 at nine sites, including Brecksville, Cleveland, Lakewood, Solon, Strongsville, and Westlake.
- Dublin, Ohio: October 19 to December 14 at the Dublin Service Center, 6555 Shier Rings Road.
- Will County, Illinois: November 7, 9 a.m. to noon, at Lewis University in Romeoville, with document shredding and electronics recycling at the same event. The Forest Preserve District of Will County takes pumpkins at Hidden Oaks Nature Center on November 28.
- University of Illinois Extension Pumpkin Smash: November 7, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Veterans Park in Macomb. Extension lists other Illinois smash events at go.illinois.edu/PumpkinSmash.
- Hennepin Recycling Group, Minnesota: November 1 to November 9 at New Hope Church, 4225 Gettysburg Ave., New Hope.
Outside these areas, search your city or county name with "pumpkin composting" in late October, or call the transfer station or yard waste site that serves you and ask whether it takes pumpkins.
Composting a pumpkin at home
- Clean it: remove candles, wax, and anything that is not pumpkin. Scrape off painted or marker-drawn skin, as the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District suggests.
- Scoop out the seeds if you do not want pumpkin vines in next year's compost or garden.
- Cut or smash it into pieces. University of Illinois Extension notes that chopping speeds decomposition, and that an uncarved, unblemished pumpkin can last for months before it starts to break down.
- Mix the pieces into the pile with dry browns such as fallen leaves. EPA's home composting guide calls for a mix of greens and browns, plus water and air. Turn the pile to get air into the middle.
For more on balancing food scraps and leaves, see the backyard composting section of our home recycling guide. When the compost is finished, the compost calculator estimates how much you need for a garden bed or lawn.
Do not dump pumpkins in woods or preserves
Tossing a pumpkin into a ditch, field, or forest preserve is not composting. University of Illinois Extension says leaving pumpkins on private property or in a nature preserve is littering and can be illegal, and that dumped pumpkins and straw smother native plants. The Forest Preserve District of Will County lists avoiding illegal dumping in its preserves as one reason to bring pumpkins to its compost drop-off instead.
Questions people ask after Halloween
Can I put pumpkins in my yard waste bin?
Only if your program lists them. Coralville, Iowa, tells residents to put pumpkins in yard waste. Dublin, Ohio, and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District in Ohio say not to, and run separate pumpkin drop-offs instead. Check your city or hauler's accepted list before you set one out.
Can painted pumpkins be composted?
It depends on the program. Cuyahoga County's 2026 collection refuses pumpkins that were painted, bleached, chemically treated, or drawn on with permanent marker. Will County, Illinois, asks people to remove candles, paint, bags, and other decorations before dropping pumpkins at its November 7 event at Lewis University, and the Forest Preserve District of Will County says pumpkins with synthetic paint cannot be composted at Hidden Oaks. For a home pile, Cuyahoga County suggests scraping off painted or marked skin first.
Is it okay to leave old pumpkins in the woods for wildlife?
No. University of Illinois Extension says leaving pumpkins on private property or in a nature preserve is littering and can be illegal, and that dumped pumpkins and straw smother native plants. Use a compost pile, a curbside program that accepts pumpkins, or a drop-off.
Should I take the seeds out before composting a pumpkin?
If you do not want pumpkin plants coming up in your compost or garden, yes. The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District suggests removing the seeds before composting at home and cutting the pumpkin into pieces so it breaks down faster.
Find a local drop-off
Search RecycleFind for a transfer station, yard waste site, or recycling center near you, then call to ask whether it takes pumpkins this season. The yard waste materials page covers leaves and other fall debris, and the recycling contamination guide explains why food and decorations should stay out of the blue bin. Schools and offices that weigh a pumpkin collection can add it to the composted column of our waste diversion rate calculator.
Sources
- U.S. EPA: quantifying methane emissions from landfilled food waste
- U.S. EPA: composting at home
- Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District: pumpkin composting collection
- City of Dublin, Ohio: pumpkin composting
- City of Coralville, Iowa: yard waste, pumpkins and gourds
- Hennepin Recycling Group: pumpkin recycling
- Ramsey County, Minnesota: yard waste collection sites
- Will County Green: November 7, 2026 pumpkin composting event
- Forest Preserve District of Will County: Hidden Oaks pumpkin drop-off
- University of Illinois Extension: 2026 Pumpkin Smash, Macomb
- University of Illinois Extension: dealing with pumpkins after Halloween