Organic Waste Recycling

The City of San Diego and private hauler partners are rolling out new green bins for weekly organic waste collection for homes and businesses.

Organic waste recycling is easy! Simply collect your food scraps - such as fruit, vegetables, meat, bones, eggshells and food-soiled paper - and place them in a kitchen pail or other collection container. After meals, you can also scrape your plate into the container, and then when it’s full, empty the contents into the green bin outside for weekly collection. Your yard waste can also go in the green bin. Your trash and mixed recycling bins will continue to be collected as normal. If your home or business is serviced by a private hauler, please check with them for your collection schedule.

Green Bin Tips

To Make Organic Waste Recycling Hassle Free

Learn what types of waste are

Good For The Green Bin

Zero Waste by 2040

As part of San Diego’s landmark Climate Action Plan, the City is aiming to achieve Zero Waste by 2040, and Organic waste recycling is critical to helping us get there. Gone are the days for us to throw all of our trash into the landfill and forget about it. Zero Waste focuses on reducing, reusing, and then recycling waste. Waste prevention, recycling, composting and other technologies help us reduce the amount of trash going to our landfills. The City’s Zero Waste Program is working toward 90% diversion by 2035, and “zero” by 2040. Increasing the City’s waste diversion rate will require an estimated additional 332,000 tons per year to be diverted from landfills. Because organic waste represents such a large percentage of our waste stream, Organic waste recycling will help us achieve these goals and create a more sustainable future for all of us.

Environmental Benefits

Organic waste recycling is an important part of the City’s efforts to combat climate change and work toward a Zero Waste future.

When organic waste is recycled, it becomes a renewable resource - creating compost and mulch to nourish our gardens, parks, farms and open spaces.

When organic waste sits in landfills it releases methane, a hazardous air pollutant for our environment that traps the sun’s heat, warms the atmosphere and accelerates climate change. Recycling organic waste will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycled Organic waste can produce renewable natural gas that could be used for cooking, powering engines and more.

Compost applied to soil also increases moisture retention and aids in water conservation, which is especially important given San Diego’s drought-prone environment.

CalRecycle works to inspire and challenge Californians to reduce, recycle and reuse waste, which has led to California leading the nation with an approximate 65% diversion rate for all materials. Visit the CalRecycle website for more information about their important efforts and to learn more about the statewide Senate Bill 1383.