Ramsey and Washington counties’ Food Scraps Pickup Program is now available to 19 new communities. This includes all residents of

• Afton
• Bayport
• Baytown Township
• Birchwood Village
• Dellwood
• Denmark Township
• Grant
• Lake Elmo
• Lake Saint Croix Beach
• Lakeland
• Lakeland Shores
• Mahtomedi
• Oak Park Heights
• Pine Springs
• Stillwater
• Stillwater Township
• St. Mary’s Point
• West Lakeland Township
• Willernie

These are in addition to all residents of Cottage Grove, Grey Cloud Island Township, Landfall, Maplewood, Newport, North St. Paul, Oakdale, St. Paul Park and Woodbury, where the program has already been available. Beginning Oct. 1, 2024, residents of the new communities can sign up for the program at no cost by visiting FoodScrapsPickup.com or calling 651-661-9393.
Twenty percent of trash in Ramsey and Washington counties is food scraps, such as fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells and bones. This program offers an easy, accessible and environmentally friendly way for residents to manage food scraps at home. The program will roll out over multiple years and eventually be available to all residents of Ramsey and Washington counties.
“We are thrilled to expand the Food Scraps Pickup Program to approximately 28,000 additional households, making this service available to over 106,000 total households in Washington and Ramsey counties,” stated Trista Martinson, Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy executive director. “It is inspiring to see residents’ enthusiasm for the Food Scraps Pickup Program. We’re excited to continue expanding a program that offers a convenient option for residents to turn their food scraps into a valuable resource and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
Residents interested in participating in the program can sign up and place a bag order at no cost on the Food Scraps Pickup Program website or by calling 651-661-9393. An annual supply of 6-gallon or 13-gallon food scrap bags will ship directly to participants’ homes with an instruction guide on how to start collecting food scraps. Each week, or when a food scrap bag is full, residents will tie a knot at the top and then place the bag inside their trash cart or dumpster to be collected by their trash hauler. The program-provided food scrap bags are designed to be extra durable, so they don’t tear open during the trip in the garbage truck.
After collection, food scrap bags and trash are hauled to the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center (R&E Center), where the food scrap bags are sorted from the trash using robotic sorting technology and sent to an industrial compost facility to become compost. This program is making progress toward Minnesota’s 75% recycling goal for metro counties and is a significant step forward in helping the counties reduce their climate impact.