SPOKANE, Wash — Starting in the new year, the City of Spokane will pick up curbside yard and food waste bins during the winter months.
The optional curbside yard and food waste collection service runs weekly from March through November and will now include the first full weeks of January, February and December in 2025.
City officials say this is a transition step, by 2030 state law will require all city residents to participate in yard and food waste removal.
“This in preparation for what we're going to have to move forward to, because of state laws, that we will be reducing the amount of organic waste in our trash system," said Kirstin Davis, the communications manager for City of Spokane's Public Works and Utilities department.
Even with the looming state law, the city says this is something many residents have asked for. Since the past few winters have been more mild in Spokane, people want to be able to clean up their yards later into the winter season.
Davis said in addition to yard waste, the city wants residents to focus on food waste. People were deterred from disposing of their food waste properly during the winter season since the waste would sit in the bins for so long.
Now the change is meant to alleviate that problem.
“First and foremost, we really want people to be conscious about what they're tossing," Davis said. "You know, those food scraps. Is there another use for them? Do we overbuy at the store, do we overcook?
Waste will be picked up the first full week of each month and will be composted by Barr-Tech Composting.
Davis said, the current cost is about $20 for a nine month service. Starting next year with the new change, the price will reduce to $18.01 per month.
The city expects residents who use the green bins will be able to decrease the size of their trash and recycle bins, which will also cut overall costs.
How you can prepare for curbside pickup
Stuff Your Green Cart - Residents who subscribe to the optional yard and food waste green cart service are urged to put as many leaves and yard waste as possible into their green carts between now and Saturday, Nov. 30.
The city asks residents to never push leaves from the yard into the street and to take the time to make sure there is a clear path for stormwater and snow melt-off to reach the drains in neighborhood streets.
The 90-gallon yard and food waste green cart can be filled with all types of yard waste including leaves, pine needles, grass, pumpkins, pinecones, weeds, vines, thatch, plant trimmings, small amounts of sod and branches.
Please do not overload carts and make sure that the lids are fully closed.
Extra Bag Rules - Plastic bags do not belong in food and yard waste green carts.
The city says green carts with plastic bags are billed as garbage, but paper leaf bags are acceptable in the green cart or left next to the green cart. Yard and food waste collection customers are eligible for a discounted fee for disposing of up to three extra paper bags full of leaves.
The leaves are sent to the composting facility. If plastic bags with leaves are left out, there is a larger disposal fee per bag and they go into the trash.
Reduce Food Waste and Put Scraps in Green Carts – Green cart customers can dispose of food scraps and food-soiled paper in the carts. Acceptable scraps include meat, poultry, fish, beans, dairy products, fruit, vegetables, breads, grains, pasta, eggshells, nutshells, coffee grounds, tea bags and leftovers.
Acceptable food-soiled papers include greasy pizza boxes, coffee filters, paper towels, paper napkins, uncoated paper plates and cups, paper egg and berry cartons and paper grocery bags with food scraps.
The city says recyclers and composters can still recycle yard and food waste at the City’s Waste to Energy (WTE) facility.
Clean green materials are accepted year-round at WTE, which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The minimum charge is $7.12 for up to 200 pounds of clean green material and there is also a self-haul fee of $2.33.