Residents of El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole, Richmond, San Pablo, and Unincorporated Contra Costa County communities of Bayview, El Sobrante, Montalvin Manor, North Richmond, Rollingwood and Tara Hills are eligible to receive a FREE Food Scrap Collection Pail for their kitchen counter. These pails are available for you to conveniently help separate your food waste, soiled paper, and plant or flower trimmings in the kitchen and then use the pail to transfer the waste to your curbside organics/green cart for pickup on your normal collection day.
Pails are available to pick up from local city offices. Contact your city of residence for your Free Food Scrap Collection Pail.
Residents are encouraged to call ahead to check on availability and office hours as the information listed below may have changed. Bring identification to show proof of residency. One pail per household. The size of the pail is 8″ Wide (at the bottom)/11″ Wide (at the top) x 9″ Tall x 6″ Deep and is equal to 3 gallons.
City of Hercules City Hall 111 Civic Drive Hercules, CA
Hours: Monday – Thursday 8 am – 5 pm (510) 799-8200
City of Pinole City Hall 2131 Pear Street Pinole, CA
Hours: Monday – Thursday 8 am – 12 pm & 1 pm – 4:30 pm (510) 724-9000
City of Richmond City Hall – City Manager’s Office – Suite 300 450 Civic Center Plaza Richmond, CA
Hours: Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 5:00 pm (510) 620-6512
City of San Pablo City Hall 1000 Gateway Avenue San Pablo, CA
Hours: Monday – Thursday 7:30 am – 6 pm (510) 215-3064
City of El Cerrito El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center 7501 Schmidt Ln. El Cerrito, CA
Hours: Tuesdays – Fridays: 8:30 AM to 4 PM Saturdays: 9:00 AM to 4:45 PM Sunday-Monday: Closed (510) 215-4350
Office of County Supervisor John Gioia (Serving included Unincorporated cities in West Contra Costa County) 11780 San Pablo Avenue, Suite D El Cerrito, CA Phone: 510-942-2220
You may line your pail, but it is not necessary. Compostable bags of any brand are allowed, but they must be Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) or ASTM D6400 approved for the 3 gallon size. You may also consider lining your pail with newspaper and/or already soiled paper bags or paper towels as an alternative.
As a fun family project and to reuse existing newspaper, here is how to make a pail liner out of newspaper [CLICK HERE]
Some examples of approved compostable food scrap bags:
Here are some locations to obtain the approved compostable food scrap bags (click links): Ace Hardware Amazon El Cerrito Natural Target Safeway Walmart Whole Foods
Here are some locations to obtain the approved compostable food scrap bags (click links):
Ace Hardware
Amazon
El Cerrito Natural
Target
Safeway
Walmart
Whole Foods
You may put any food scraps and food-soiled paper into your Food Scrap Collection Pail then place the contents of the pail in your organics/green cart along with the other acceptable materials listed below. You may also select the image of the organics cart below to view the Curbside Organics Recycling Guide for more complete listings.
Click here
*Unacceptable materials placed into your curbside carts will not be emptied and may be collected by the garbage truck for an additional charge on your garbage bill.
Be sure to place the contents of your Food Scrap Collection Pail into your organics/green cart to be picked up on your regular curbside garbage collection day:
NOTE: Do not place your food scrap collection pail on the curb.
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