What goes in the bucket
Food, and paper that touched food. Nothing else. This is the same list that is in every service agreement, and it is short on purpose.
- Fruit and vegetable trimmings, peels, cores and pits
- Prepared food and plate scrapings, including meat, fish, bones and dairy
- Bread, pasta, rice, grains and baked goods
- Coffee grounds and paper filters, tea and tea bags
- Eggshells and nutshells
- Paper napkins, paper towels and uncoated paper plates
- Certified compostable service ware (BPI or CMA certified)
- Liquids in volume: pour them out first
- Plastic of any kind, including bags, cutlery, film and produce stickers
- Glass, metal and foil
- Coated or wax-lined cups, containers and takeout boxes
- Styrofoam and packing foam
- Pet waste, diapers and anything from a bathroom
- Cleaning products, chemicals, oils and grease in volume
Why one plastic fork matters
The site composts by the batch, and a batch is everything that came in over a few weeks from every stop on the route. Plastic does not break down; it breaks up. One fork becomes fragments through the whole pile, and compost with plastic in it cannot go to a garden or a tree bed. So a contaminated bucket is not a problem for one business. It is a problem for the batch, which is why we photograph it, collect it anyway the first two times, and write to you about it.
Only if it is certified, by BPI or CMA, and says so on the item. A cup that says “eco” or “plant-based” with no certification is usually lined with plastic. If you are not sure, it goes in the trash, and we would rather have a clean batch than a full bucket.
A bucket of coffee grounds is fine. A bucket of coffee is not: it is heavy, it leaks, and it makes the whole load anaerobic. Pour liquids out first. Cooking oil and grease in volume go to your grease hauler, not to us.
NYC S.C.R.A.P.S. · nycscraps.com/what-goes-in · hello@nycscraps.com