Full Circle
Put organic produce on your weekly menu
Explore Full Circle farm boxes and check delivery for your ZIP code.
Check delivery in my ZIPAll materials
How to Recycle Food Waste
Kitchen scraps, plate waste, and food-soiled paper. Produce, coffee grounds, eggshells, and plain bread compost in any backyard pile. Meat and dairy need a municipal program, and pizza boxes now go in ordinary recycling.
7 materials covered6 recyclable
Fruit & Vegetable Scraps
Peels, cores, rinds, and trimmings from fresh produce. Works in a backyard pile, a worm bin, and every municipal organics cart alike.
Learn how to recycle Fruit & Vegetable Scraps
Coffee Grounds & Tea Bags
Spent coffee grounds, paper filters, and tea bags. Grounds are a free nitrogen source for any pile. Tea bags need checking first, because the bag is often plastic even when the tea is not.
Learn how to recycle Coffee Grounds & Tea Bags
Plate Scrapings & Leftovers
Mixed leftovers scraped off plates: cooked food, meat, dairy, rice, pasta, and sauces. Whether you can compost these comes down to whether your city collects organics.
Learn how to recycle Plate Scrapings & Leftovers
Eggshells
Chicken, duck, and quail shells. Real agricultural lime by chemistry, but only at particle sizes and quantities most kitchens never reach.
Learn how to recycle Eggshells
Bread & Baked Goods
Stale bread, rolls, tortillas, pastries, and cake. Straightforward to compost, widely accepted by municipal programs, and the food waste most worth eating instead.
Learn how to recycle Bread & Baked Goods
Food-Soiled Paper & Cardboard
Pizza boxes, napkins, paper towels, and food-stained cardboard. Mills reversed their position on greasy pizza boxes, while packaging labeled compostable usually is not.
Learn how to recycle Food-Soiled Paper & Cardboard
Used Cooking Oil & Grease
Used vegetable oil, frying oil, animal fat, and cooking grease from household kitchens; not automotive motor oil.
Learn how to recycle Used Cooking Oil & Grease
Find food waste recycling centers
Search recycling centers by city or ZIP, then call ahead to confirm they take food waste.
Food waste and composting
What composting takes
Food in a landfill produces methane. Composting turns scraps into soil if you have space, a municipal organics cart, or a drop-off.
- • Greens (Nitrogen): Fruit scraps, vegetable peels, coffee grounds
- • Browns (Carbon): Paper napkins, cardboard, sawdust
- • No-Go Items: Plastics, stickers, metals, glass
- • Outcome: Natural fertilizer for gardens and farms
Environmental Benefits
Food is the single largest category in US landfills, and buried food is what makes them a methane source. A compost pile stays aerobic and releases CO2 instead.
Why It Matters:
- • Keeps food out of the anaerobic layer that makes landfill methane
- • Enriches soil and reduces need for chemical fertilizers
- • Improves soil water retention
- • Reduces trash volume by up to 40%
Food Waste & Composting FAQ
What foods can be composted?
Fruits, vegetables, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, nut shells, shredded paper, cardboard. Avoid meat, dairy, and oils in backyard piles (these require industrial composting).
Can I compost meat and dairy?
In industrial/municipal programs: Usually YES (they get hot enough). In backyard compost: NO (they attract pests and produce odors). Always check your local program guidelines.
Can I compost bioplastics?
Only in industrial facilities. "Compostable" forks/cups will NOT break down in a backyard pile; they need sustained high heat (140°F+).
Does composting smell?
A healthy compost pile smells like earthy soil. If it smells rotten, it needs more air (turning) or more "browns" (leaves/paper). Bad smells usually mean it's too wet.