Town Drop-Off Locations

graphic showing what goes in your food waste container

The compost materials you drop off will be utilized at regional compost facilities. Keeping food scraps out of your garbage helps prevent potent greenhouse gases from being released when food breaks down in the landfill.

Download a compost guide.

What Can Be Composted?

Food scraps ONLY!

  • Fruits/veggies
  • Flowers
  • Eggshells
  • Meat
  • Bones
  • Avocado pits
  • Coffee grounds—no filters

Keep OUT of Our Compost:

  • Bags
  • Paper products
  • “Compostable” plastics
  • Cardboard
  • Pet feces/kitty litter
  • Plastic or compostable cutlery, bags or containers
  • Tea bags/coffee filters
  • Tissues/paper towels
  • Shredded newspaper

Drop-off Locations:

Drop-off anytime | Year-round
Please be sure to shut the locking lid to keep wildlife out.

Please, food scraps only! No “compostable” bags, tea bags, coffee filters, or paper products!

  1. Truckee Town Hall
    10183 Truckee Airport Rd
    Dumpster located in the rear parking lot, near the cardboard dumpster.
  2. Glenshire General Store
    10095 Dorchester Dr
    Dumpster located near front driveway.
  3. Community Garden Drop-Off Location

    (Due to frequent misuse, the food waste collection bin at Mountain Hardware has been removed)

Watch this how-to video to help keep our wildlife safe & compost clean!

Community Garden/Farmers Market

Drop off your compost May-October at the Community Garden or Farmers Market. Materials dropped off at the farmers market will be used in the demonstration garden. This budding partnership between Slow Food Lake Tahoe and Keep Truckee Green produces compost to grow organic produce for community members in need.

What Can Be Composted?

  • Fruits/veggies
  • Flowers
  • Eggshells
  • Coffee grounds
  • Leaves
  • Sawdust from untreated wood

Keep Out of Our Compost:

  • Anything sprayed with pesticides or herbicides
  • Bread/bones/dairy/fats/leftovers/meat/seafood
  • Cardboard
  • Pet feces/kitty litter
  • Plastic or compostable cutlery, bags or containers
  • Tea bags/coffee filters
  • Tissues/paper towels
  • Shredded newspaper
  • Weeds

Drop-off Locations:

Location of Slow Food Lake Tahoe's Food Bank Garden in the Truckee River Regional Park
  • Truckee Certified Farmer Market
    Tuesdays | May 11 – October 19, 2021
    8am – 1pm @ Truckee River Regional Park
    10500 Brockway Road, Truckee
  • Truckee Saturday Farmers Market
    Saturdays | June 5 – September 4, 2021
    8 AM – 12 PM in Historic Downtown Railyard Parking Lot

Food Waste Pails

Did you know that bags are not accepted in our food waste collection program? Food scraps should be emptied directly in the food waste dumpsters. No “compostable” plastic, paper, or plastic bags are accepted.

To make it easier to collect your food scraps, you can use a food scraps pail. Pails are available to purchase for $5 at Mountain Hardware on Donner Pass Rd, Glenshire General Store, and the Truckee Certified Farmers Market on Tuesdays May – October. All sales are donated to Sierra Community House.

Compost Facility

Food scraps collected in Truckee are processed by Full Circle Soils and Compost in Carson City, Nevada, where they are turned into high-quality compost. Composting food waste instead of sending it to a landfill reduces emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Full Circle can only accept food scraps from Truckee – no paper products, plastic bags, or other items, even if they are labelled as “compostable.” Just one piece of contamination in a food scraps bin means the entire bin will end up in the landfill instead of a composting facility! Help us keep our food scraps clean to reduce waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and put this valuable resource to better use than trash.

Email signup

If you would like to stay up-to-date on Truckee's sustainability efforts or sign up for trash and recycling pick up day reminders, submit your info here!