Registration open for eco-friendly waste composting pilot in Alexandria

The City of Alexandria wants your trash.

Specifically, Alexandria wants your food waste. The city put out a call yesterday for residents who receive City trash and recycling services to register for a new Curbside Food Waste Composting Pilot that launched earlier this year. The goal of the program is to reduce and compost food waste, generate finished compost, and promote sustainability.

“Back in spring of 2023, the City of Alexandria was selected by the USDA as one of the 2023 Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreement recipients,” the City of Alexandria said in a release. “With this federal funding support, the City has been piloting a food waste composting program for residents receiving City trash and recycling services.”

The pilot involves 12 months of composting services for free, along with an air-tight 7-gallon cart and 40 compostable bags.

According to the city’s website:

Selected participants will separate food waste from trash, just as we already do with our recyclables, and leave the composting bin by the curb on the designated day of the week. The City contracts with Compost Crew to manage the program, who will provide weekly collection services along with addressing issues such as delivery of the containers and missed collections. Each household can request on Compost Crew’s customer portal for a complimentary bag of finished compost if desired, once a year.

The release said the pilot involves composting food waste at the curb every week.

Registration for the pilot is available online to residents. Up to 2,000 residents will be selected as part of the pilot.

Image via Lenka Dzurendova/Unsplash