The town of Barnstable is instituting a new food waste collection/composting program, the aim of which is to reduce the amount of food waste that gets thrown away with the trash.
Residents with a current Trash Disposal or Recycling Only sticker can now bring their kitchen scraps and food waste to the Transfer Station on Flint St. in Marstons Mills at no additional cost. The food waste will go into collection barrels located in one of the sheds and will be picked up by Watts Family Farms in Forestdale, which has partnered with the town on the program. The food waste will be picked up weekly by the farm, taken to their Forestdale facility and turned into high quality compost.
Most kitchen waste can be composted, including meat and bones as well as paper towels and napkins. However, items such as kitty litter, plastics, cardboard, and Styrofoam are excluded.
The Barnstable Food Waste Composting program is funded, in part, through a grant from MassDEP.