Ramsey and Washington counties are working together to bring residents a new way to recycle food scraps from home — the Food Scraps Pickup Program!
Food scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells, and coffee grounds make up 20% of trash. Recycling food scraps helps turn them into soil instead of sending them to a landfill. The Food Scraps Pickup Program is currently available to all residents of the following cities:
- Ramsey County: Maplewood and North St. Paul
- Washington County: Afton, Bayport, Baytown Township, Birchwood, Cottage Grove, Dellwood, Denmark Township, Grant, Grey Cloud Island Township, Lake Elmo, Lake St. Croix Beach, Lakeland Shores, Lakeland, Landfall, Mahtomedi, Newport, Oak Park Heights, Oakdale, Pine Springs, St. Mary’s Point, St. Paul Park, Stillwater, Stillwater Township, West Lakeland Township, Willernie, and Woodbury
The program will roll out to the rest of Ramsey and Washington counties over the next few years.
Residents interested in participating can check their eligibility, sign up, and place a bag order at no cost at FoodScrapsPickup.com or by calling 651-661-9393.
How It Works
An annual supply of 6-gallon or 13-gallon food scrap bags will ship directly to participants’ homes. Each week, or when a bag is full, residents will tie it shut and place it inside their trash cart or dumpster. The bags are designed to be extra durable so they don’t tear open in the truck. After pickup, trash and food scrap bags are hauled to the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center. There, robotic technology separates the food scrap bags from the trash. The bags are sent to an industrial composting facility to be turned into soil.
This is a program provided by Ramsey and Washington counties and is not a hauler program.
