Need Help with the New Law?

Our cancelled June AGC program was going to clarify the Vermont Universal Recycling Law which goes into effect on July 1, 2020. The law prohibits food scraps from being put in the trash.* Food scraps are the parts of your food which are not eaten. There are three options to manage these scraps:

1. Hire a hauler to pick them up. Ask your trash and recycling hauler if they offer this service, or find a food scrap hauler at: link. They usually provide buckets or carts to pick up food scraps. Fees vary.

2. Drop off food scraps at a transfer station, fast trash/bag drop, or compost site. Contact your local waste management entity to learn more about drop off in your area. Fees vary.

3. Compost in the backyard. If you have a yard and a garden this is the easiest and most beneficial way to deal with food scraps. There is lots of information on composting methods on the internet. There are many options and what works for you is the best. Check out “The Dirt on Compost”. I have been composting for about ten years and I took the Extension Master Composting course in 2014. If you have questions or need help, I am here.

- written by Lynette Novick, Arlington Garden Club For more info, see this link.

*Even after the July 1 ban on putting food scraps in the trash, state law allows residents that compost in their yard to dispose of meat and fish scraps in the trash, so they do not attract animals to the compost bin.