Note: The Food Scraps Pickup Pilot is no longer accepting applicants.
Did you know that banana peels, dirty paper plates, and even pet food can be composted into soil?
Metro Waste Services has engaged 750 households to help us learn how we can keep food scraps out of the trash in Metro Nashville's first ever Food Scraps Pickup Pilot program, launched October 23, 2023. Each participating household will collect their food scraps and place them at the curb each week for one year to turn them into compost.
How Food Scraps Pickup Pilot Works
There is no cost to participate. Participating households will be asked to...
- Collect your food scraps: Collect food scraps and other compostable products throughout the week.
- Take it to the curb: Place compostable materials in your curbside bin. Compost Nashville picks up your curbside bin each week.
- Reduce your waste to landfill: Your scraps will go to a local facility to be turned into a nutrient rich compost that improves local soils.
- Share your experience: Let us know how it went!
What's in it for Me
In addition to helping make Nashville a more sustainable and resilient city for future generations, everyone that participates in the pilot will receive a year of curbside compost collection (valued over $450). Participants that complete the year-long pilot will also receive a free bag of compost, a Zero Waste Nashville gift, and a chance to win one of 100 additional prizes including:
- $20 Gift Card
- $50 Tennessee State Parks Gift Card
- Root Nashville Tree
- Earth Machine Backyard Compost Bin
- Get Rowdy Recycle T-Shirt
- Compost Nashville T-Shirt
- Socket Gift Bag
Why Pick Up Food Scraps
Approximately 1/3 of what Nashville residents throw away as trash is food scraps and other organic materials that could be composted. When landfilled, that wasted food, food scraps, and other organic materials create methane gas. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Methane also accounts for about 20% of global emissions. Unlike landfilling, composting uses the natural decomposition process to return the nutrients in food and organic material back to the earth and create healthier soils.
By collecting food scraps for composting, instead of landfilling, we can:
- Reduce the production of methane gas in landfills
- Improve the health of middle Tennessee soils
- Reduce Nashville's reliance on landfills
- Get closer to Nashville's Zero Waste goal to reduce all waste to landfill by 90%
Food Scraps Pickup Pilot Details
What Can Be Composted
Food scraps, soiled paper products, and other compostable materials can be included.
Participant Selection
Applying for this pilot does not mean you will automatically be selected to participate.
Questions
If you have questions about the pilot or participant selection process, contact [email protected].