City of Houston Composting Pilot Program

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SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

City of Houston Composting

Pumpkin Compost Drop-Off Image

2024 Pumpkin Compost Drop-Off

The City of Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department, in partnership with Council Member Sallie Alcorn, is excited to announce the return of the 4th Annual Pumpkin Composting Drop-Off program, now with expanded locations and extended hours. This program offers a convenient way for Houston residents to compost their holiday pumpkins, reducing waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

From November 1 to December 6, 2024, residents can drop off their retired jack-o-lanterns, whole pumpkins, seeds, and pumpkin pulp at the following locations:

City of Houston Reuse Warehouse
9003 N. Main St., Houston, TX 77022
Tuesday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
(Open every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)

Westpark Recycling Center
5900 Westpark, Houston, TX 77339
Monday – Saturday, 8 a.m.– 5 p.m.

Download program flyer.

2024 Food Waste Drop-off Program

January 22nd - February 29th

The City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department, in collaboration with Council Member Sallie Alcorn and Zero Waste Houston, is pleased to announce the completion of the six-week Food Waste Drop-Off pilot program. We are grateful for the participation and support from the community throughout this program. Over the past six weeks, residents had the opportunity to drop off food scraps at four convenient locations, contributing to our ongoing efforts to divert waste from landfills. We extend our appreciation to all who took part in this initiative. Through this initiative, 262 residents participated and over 9,800 pounds of food waste was diverted from the landfill.

2023 Pumpkin Drop-off Program

The Solid Waste Management Department held a pumpkin drop-off from November 1, 2023 to November 8, 2023 at the City of Houston Reuse Warehouse. During that period, we diverted over 16,000 pounds of pumpkins from the landfill!

2022 Pumpkin Drop-off Program

The Solid Waste Management Department and my office held a pumpkin drop-off from November 1, 2022 to November 4, 2022 at the City of Houston Reuse Warehouse. During that four-day period, we diverted nearly 10,000 pounds of pumpkins from the landfill!

2021 Composting Drop-off Pilot Program

The City of Houston ran its first composting pilot program from October 20, 2021 to November 27, 2021. A huge thank you goes to all our wonderful participants and partners. With their help, the three drop-off locations - Kashmere Multi-Service Center, Heights Historic Fire Station, and the Houston Botanic Garden – diverted a total of 14,551 pounds from the landfill (over 7 tons!) This program would not have been possible without our composting partners, Zero Waste Houston and Moonshot Compost, who graciously donated their time and services to the city at no cost. I'm also grateful for the enthusiastic work of all our partners: Mayor Sylvester Turner, Council Member Tarsha Jackson, Council Member Abbie Kamin, Council Member Robert Gallegos, the Solid Waste Management Department, Houston Health Department, Houston Botanic Garden, Houston Heights Association, Urban Harvest, the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, and Houston Complete Communities.

Why compost?

The Climate Action Plan’s waste management goals include “strengthening and supporting efforts to collect and compost food organics.”

According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, in the United States, food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.1 percent of these emissions in 2017.

The methane emissions from municipal landfills in 2019 were approximately equivalent to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from more than 21.6 million passenger vehicles driven for one year or the CO2 emissions from nearly 12 million homes’ energy use for one year.

Houston residents, businesses and institutions generate approximately 6.2 million tons of municipal solid waste per year.

Beyond reducing waste, using compost enhances rainfall penetration, which reduces water runoff and soil erosion. This in turn reduces sediment, nutrients, and pesticide losses to streams by 75-95 percent. Compost also improves the soil and enhances beneficial microbes that help reduce plant diseases and pests, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

View the Composting Pilot Program flyer (.pdf)

Composting Companies in Houston

If your company is interested in being added to this list, please email atlarge5@houstontx.gov.

COMPOSTING

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

City of Houston Composting

Moonshot Compost

Zero Waste Houston

Curb to Compost

Happy Earth Compost

Karma Pharma

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SWMD Recycling Facilities