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Collect your own compostable food waste and bring it to one of the City Food Scraps Drop Off locations.

The Dish to Dirt Food Scraps Drop-Off Pilot program is FREE to participating community members with drop-off locations at each of the City's recycling centers. Organic matter collected through the pilot will be taken to the Yardwaste Recycling Center and turned into good, clean compost.

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The Department of Environmental Services has recently been awarded a USDA grant to pilot a food scraps drop-off and collection program in the Springfield area.

This grant helps to provide additional infrastructure at the YRC to better manage compost and mulch processing, as well as piloting both residential food scraps drop off at our recycling sites and a commercial collection pilot with area businesses from various sectors to collect the food waste generated onsite all to be incorporated into City compost.  

WATCH THE PROGRAM INTRO VIDEO!

HOW WILL THE PILOT PROGRAM WORK?

Households within the City that register to volunteer will receive a food scraps recycling kit that includes the following items:  

  • One 4-gallon food scraps collection bin for storing your food scraps until you are ready to bring the food scraps to a recycling site.
  • Compostable paper bag liners for the bin. 
  • An instruction brochure, a refrigerator magnet, and a laminated list of acceptable and unacceptable materials.  

The food scraps recycling kit will be available for pickup on September 19-21, 2023 at the Environmental Resource Center at 290 E Central St. Following the start date of the pilot (September 29th) bins will be available at each of the recycling centers for pickup on designated drop-off days.  

The pilot program is anticipated to run through the end of May 2025.  

PLEASE NOTE: In order to participate in the food scraps drop off at area recycling sites, you MUST be registered as a participant. The City will not be accepting residential food scraps from community members outside the pilot participants.  

DROP OFF FACILITIES AND HOURS OF OPERATION 

Residential food scrap drop off will be available at the following facilities/hours:

YARDWASTE RECYCLING CENTER – 3790 S Farm Road 119 Brookline, MO 

Food waste drop off 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., TUESDAY – SATURDAY. 
Participants will need to speak with the attendant at the drive-up window prior to placing materials in the big yellow bin. The facility will be closed during all regularly scheduled City holidays for food waste drop off. 

LONE PINE RECYCLING CENTER – 3020 S Lone Pine Ave Springfield, MO  

Food waste drop off from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturdays. 
Participants will drop off food waste in the designated yellow food waste bin within the center. The facility will be closed during all regularly scheduled City holidays for food waste drop off.  

FRANKLIN AVENUE RECYCLING CENTER – 731 N Franklin Ave Springfield, MO 

Open for food waste drop off from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Saturdays. 
Participants will drop off food waste in the designated yellow food waste bin within the center. The facility will be closed during all regularly scheduled City holidays for food waste drop off.  

HOW WILL I RECYCLE MY FOOD SCRAPS?  

Recycling your food scraps is as easy as 1, 2, 3!  Watch this video to learn more:

Dish to Dirt - Food Scraps Drop-off from SGF CityView on Vimeo.

WHAT IS ACCEPTED / NOT ACCEPTED IN FOOD SCRAP BINS?

PUT IT IN YOUR BIN!  

  • Veggies 
  • Fruit 
  • Coffee grounds and filters 
  • Tea bags 
  • Table Scraps and plate scrapings 
  • Meat, Poultry, Fish, Shellfish Scraps 
  • Wooden Skewers and wooden cocktail sticks 
  • Dairy products 
  • Bones 
  • Eggs & Eggshells 
  • Bread & Baked Goods 
  • Pasta 
  • Rice & Grains 
  • Beans, nuts, and seeds 
  • Leftovers 
  • Cut flowers 
  • Brown paper towels and napkins (Not used with chemicals or bodily fluids) 

DON'T PUT IT IN

  • Produce Stickers
  • Plastic and produce bags 
  • Compostable products 
  • Paper plates and cups 
  • Paper cartons 
  • Fast food wrappers and packaging 
  • Food packaging 
  • Take out containers 
  • Coffee cups 
  • Pet Waste 
  • Large amounts of grease, oil, and liquids 
  • Styrofoam, metal, glass and corks 
  • Pizza Boxes 
  • Dead animals 
  • Cigarette butts and tobacco 
  • Clams, mussels, oysters (basically rocks) 

** A good rule of thumb, if you wouldn’t eat it at one point, it doesn’t go in the pail!