East Grand Rapids Expands Composting Program to Include Food Scraps

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Starting April 6, East Grand Rapids neighbors can toss food scraps like coffee grounds and apple cores into their yard waste bins alongside traditional yard waste, according to the city's public works department.

The expanded composting program builds on a three-year pilot program that ended in 2025, where residents could drop off food scraps at a designated site, according to Doug La Fave, director of public works and deputy city manager.

"To meet our sustainability goals, we wanted to try to find a way to make it more easily accessible for residents to participate in alternatives for this program," La Fave said.

The city was able to expand the program without changing pickup routes, adding personnel or costs because it fits within the existing yard waste operation's capacity, La Fave said. The city typically processes between 16,000 and 25,000 cubic yards of material annually.

"We're already there," La Fave said. "We're able to look at a model where the cost was pretty negligible for us to provide the enhanced service."

Accepted Items Include Organics and Traditional Yard Waste

Accepted curbside items include fruits and vegetables, bread, grains, pasta, rice, coffee grounds, nuts and shells, and traditional yard waste like leaves, grass and twigs. Food scraps can be mixed with yard waste materials.

However, meat and dairy products must be taken to the public works drop-off site because different composting vendors handle different types of materials based on their processing capabilities.

"We have a different vendor that compost at our drop off site, and they're able to handle a lot more variety of items," La Fave said.

The drop-off site at the Public Works complex accepts additional items including meat, fish, dairy, coffee filters, paper towels, napkins, tea bags, pizza boxes, paper containers, paper plates, shredded paper and small pieces of tape-free cardboard.

Community Leaders See Organic Waste as Future of Recycling

La Fave compared the program to recycling adoption decades ago, when East Grand Rapids became the only community to mandate curbside recycling by ordinance.

"Organics is kind of in that space where recycling probably was 20-30 years ago, to understand that there's alternatives to process that material that's more beneficial for the environment, rather than sending it to a landfill or waste energy facility," he said.

The program represents East Grand Rapids' continued commitment to environmental sustainability and waste reduction. The city has been a leader in environmental programs, having pioneered curbside recycling in the region decades ago.

What Residents Should Know

Residents participating in the curbside food scrap program should remember that:

• Food scraps and yard waste can be mixed in the same bin
• Coffee grounds and apple cores are accepted items
• Meat, dairy, and similar products require drop-off at the Public Works complex
• More information about accepted and prohibited items is available on the city website

The expanded program is expected to help reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfills and waste energy facilities, supporting East Grand Rapids' broader sustainability goals.