Curbside Composting

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With the successful implementation of the Curbside Food Scraps Composting pilot and two expansions, Prince George’s County is proud to launch Phase 3 and expansion to eligible residents receiving County-contracted trash and recycling services. Our campaign slogan is “Every meal. Every scrap. Every Monday.” The program adds another sanitation collection service to the County’s weekly pickup schedule. 

We are implementing this program with a phased rollout. Eligible residents in north, central and south County will receive direct mail outlining their wheeled green cart and kitchen pail deliveries in the fall of 2022. All other eligible residents will receive materials in 2023.

The County is offering this program to help keep valuable materials that are not waste out of our landfill, reduce excessive greenhouse gas emissions, protect our environment, and reduce the cost and environmental impacts of trash pickup.

Eligible households will receive everything needed to start composting, including a 32-gallon wheeled green cart, a 2-gallon kitchen pail, a How-To Guide, a refrigerator magnet, a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and a list of acceptable compostable liners. 

Food and food-soiled paper items, including paper towels, plates and napkins, pizza boxes, and ice cream containers, may be composted by setting out at the curb by 6 am on Mondays for collection. Residents are asked to include only food, food-related items, and yard trim/waste (optional) in the cart for collection. If yard trim/waste is not stored in the cart, residents may continue to place yard trim/waste beside the cart in paper yard trim/waste bags or another container with a tight-fitting lid marked "Yard Trim" or "Yard Waste." However, all food and food-soiled items must be placed in the 32- gallon wheeled green cart for pick-up.

Curbside Compost Educational Materials

How-To Compost Guide
Acceptable Items
Acceptable Compost Liners
Curbside Compost FAQ

Other questions? Email us at pgccomposts@co.pg.md.usPGC Composts Magnet 5x5 English and Spanish Opens in new window

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How Do I Start With My Green Cart? Virtual Seminar 
Held on Thursday, February, 23, 2023

Watch the recorded session at youtube.com/live/Qrj4vsdKWns

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Phase 3 Expansion Completed 

By the end of 2023, all houses receiving County services will receive program materials to participate in the PGC Composts program. 

Cart delivery totals as of December 19, 2022

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Collection Schedule

Weekly curbside collection of compost materials (food scraps and yard trim) is year-round on Mondays only, EXCEPT on certain holidays (see holiday collection schedule below). Food scraps are collected with yard trim, but food-related items must be placed in the County-issued 32-gallon wheeled green cart. Yard trim includes grass clippings, leaves, small branches, brush, and Christmas trees (December through January).

For more information about food scraps and yard trim collection, contact PGC311.                     

 HolidayCollection Day
New Year's DayNo change
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
No change
Presidents DayNo change
Memorial DayThe next Monday following the holiday
JuneteenthNo change
Independence Day/4th of July
The next Monday following the holiday
Labor Day
The next Monday following the holiday
Native American Day/ Columbus Day
No change
Veterans Day
No change
Thanksgiving Day
No change
Christmas Day
The next Monday following the holiday
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Learn more about the newly expanded Curbside Composting program, PGC Composts, at pgcproud.com/pgccomposts or continue reading below.

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What are Food Scraps?

About 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted globally each year, around 40% of that comes from restaurants and 10% from Grocery Stores.*

Food scraps are exactly what they sound like: any pre or post-consumed food substance that is discarded.foodscrapsiphotofrombiobag350x266 (1) Opens in new window

Nearly 24% of the garbage landfilled in Prince George’s County is food waste that could have been composted.  Sending your food scraps to the Prince George’s County Organics Composting Facility (OCF) for composting will help keep valuable materials out of our landfills, reduce harmful greenhouse gases, protect our environment and help Prince George’s County get closer to our zero waste and waste diversion goals.  Businesses that compost will be viewed by customers as environmentally conscious, and you may experience savings in disposal costs, as the composting facility’s fee is less than most landfills.

Watch this video tour of the Organics Composting Facility!

Visit EPA's website for more information on the benefits of reducing waste

 *Business Insider

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Curbside Compost Resources for Successful Preparation

Compostable Bags/ Liners

While the most sustainable option is not to use a liner, you can use a compostable bag or liner in your kitchen pail (3-gallon-sized bag) or wheeled green cart (33-gallon-sized bag).

Bags must be compostable – labeled as either “home compostable” or “commercially/industrially compostable.” Bags that are labeled only as plant-based or biodegradable are not accepted. In no case are traditional plastic bags of any kind accepted

Paper yard trim bags are acceptable as liners. In addition, paper lunch or grocery bags are fine as kitchen pail liners.

View "Acceptable Compostable Bags" here (English). 

Haga clic aquí para la versión en Español.

How-To Guides

Consider lining the green wheeled cart and kitchen pail with a compostable liner, a paper yard trim bag, or another absorbent material such as paper towels, paper napkins, newspaper, pizza boxes, or leaves to help soak up the moisture created when food begins to break down. 

Read how to collect and store compostables with this downloadable "How-To Guide."

Haga clic aquí para la versión en Español.


Watch the "How-To Guide" video here. 

Acceptable Materials

Prince George's County accepts items that can be composted in your backyard, such as fruits and vegetables, leftovers, coffee grounds, and tea, as well as items accepted for industrial composting, such as food-soiled paper, dairy products, and meats and bones.

View or download a copy of the accepted materials here (English and Spanish/Español).

Facial or toilet tissue, plastic bags, Styrofoam™, grease or liquids of any kind, and pet waste are NOT accepted in the composting program.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

View our FAQ here (English)Haga clic aquí para la versión en Español.

Watch the 5/12 recorded workshop session here

For missed collections, or issues with the kitchen counter pail or wheeled green cart, contact PGC311.

Call 3-1-1 (inside County) or 301-883-4748 (outside County) from
7 am to 7 pm or online 24/7 through the app or website at ocr.mypgc.us/pgc311.

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