Upper Valley
Disposal & Recycling Services

Commercial Compost Service
Yard & Food Waste

Upper Valley Disposal & Recycling provides collection of compostable materials like yard waste, food waste and food-soiled papers.

Our Food Scraps Compost program is available for our restaurants and businesses with a commercial kitchen.

As of January 1, 2022, you must sort your recyclables and organic waste including paper, cardboard, yard waste, food scraps, and food soiled paper from the garbage. It’s the law!

GREEN COMPOST Cart(s) & Bins

Did you know that Up Valley customers can now put food scraps and food-soiled paper along with yard trimmings in their compost carts for curbside collection AND it’s now the law?

As of January 1, 2022, a new law (SB 1383) requires that all Californian’s properly sort their organic waste for composting from materials that go to the landfill. Compost collection service is included as part of your commercial service package with Upper Valley Disposal & Recycling. 

Visit our Commercial Service Information page to review the container options and set out rules for commercial customers.

Debris Box - Dumpster
The Compost Cycle

Why does adding food, food soiled paper and yard waste to my green compost cart matter?

The average up valley resident generates 4.5 pounds of trash per day. Of that 4.5 pounds, approximately one third is compostable organic material.

If all UVD&R household customers composted, that would mean 548 pounds of organic material per person annually were no longer wasted in landfills. That would be about 11,000 TONS per year in total!

When organic materials end up in landfills, they generate methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. UVD&R’s compost facility instead turns this valuable material into organic compost. When compost is used in landscape and agriculture it builds soil nutrients, conserves water, and reduces the need for fertilizers.

What Belongs in COMPOST

Put all your yard waste, food scraps & food soiled paper into your green cart(s). Do not overfill; make sure that the lid closes securely when placed at the curb for collection. Please remember that any materials extending beyond the rim of any cart will be subject to an extra charge or your cart not being picked up.

These materials can be placed in the yard waste/food scraps cart(s).

Food Scraps

Food-Soiled Paper

Yard Waste

BPI Certified Compostable Bags

What Belongs In Compost

What Doesn’t Belong in Compost

These materials can be placed in the yard waste/food scraps cart(s).

What Doesn’t Belong In Compost

BPI Certified Bags

BPI Certified Logo

If you choose to collect food scraps with compostable bags, they must meet Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) standards and show the BPI symbol.

Bags can be purchased at:

  • CalMart in Calistoga
  • Silverado Ace Hardware in Calistoga
  • Steve’s Hardware Inc. in St. Helena
  • Howell Mountain Ace Hardware in Angwin
    (only sells 13-gallon bags)
  • Safeway in St. Helena
  • Sunshine Foods in St. Helena
  • Online at Amazon, Target, Walmart, Safeway and more!

Contamination

We know that it can be difficult to determine what materials are compostable. All materials in the green carts or compost bins go to the Upper Valley Composting Facility where they are made into a nutrient rich soil amendment, compost. Contamination is very hard to remove once it is in the compost container.

Common Compost Contaminants

  • Plastic bags and packaging (should go into trash)
  • Garbage bags (only garbage goes into garbage bags, do not bag your recyclables)
  • Paper lined with plastic and or metals
  • Pet & Human waste

What Can I Do to Help Prevent Contamination?

  • Review the list of what materials CAN be composted.
  • Unfortunately, when in doubt, it’s better to throw it out (in the garbage) than to risk contaminating your compost container.

How We Manage Compost Contamination at UVD&R

Compost carts/bins WILL NOT be emptied if contaminated with trash or non-compostable materials. If the driver notices contamination, he/she may not be able to empty your container. If this happens, a Non-Collection Notice will be left on your cart letting you know why the cart was not collected. You will also get an OOPS TAG which will tell you what contamination was found so will know the next time. You will be given the opportunity to clean up the container so it can be emptied on your next service say. Or you may opt to request a special pickup (for a fee) after removing the contaminants from the container.

Commercial food scraps program

The Food Scraps Compost program (available only for restaurants and businesses with a commercial kitchen) is offered at no additional cost if the containers stay clean without contamination (i.e., plastic, glass, garbage, etc.).

 

Brown Food Scraps Cart
Food Scrap Only Cart

What Belongs in THE FOOD SCRAPS CART

Separate all food scraps and food soiled paper and place in the designated 64-gallon food scrap cart(s) for collection.

Food Scraps

Food-Soiled Paper

What Belongs In Commercial Food Scraps Cart

What DOESn’t BELONG in THE FOOD SCRAPS CART

What Doesn’t Belong In Commercial Food Scraps Cart

Missed Collection

We make every effort to emptying your container(s) on your service day, but on occasion, we may miss you. We apologize if this happens.

  • If our driver skips collection, please call our office within two business days so we can return at no cost to you.
  • If your miss is discovered after office hours, you can leave us a message through our contact form.
  • We are all human and may accidently forgot to set-out our containers for collection. If this happens, please call our office hours and let us know. We can offer a one-time courtesy fee waiver and allow you to set out an extra bag the next pick-up day equal to your missed collection without charge. If you cannot wait until the next week to set-out extra garbage, we can go back and empty the cart(s) for an additional $25 per cart and $75 per bin.
  •  There are other instances when your container(s) may not be emptied. This may be because the container was not out, or it was blocked by something that prevented us from safely emptying it, or the container had prohibited items. If this was the case, we will leave you a notice with instructions on how to correct the problem (such as the cart was not out, the container was blocked, or the contents of the container had prohibited materials). We can return to empty the container for an additional fee per container.

Contact UVD&R

Need Compost?

We sell compost made from the food scraps and yard waste we collect.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)

Dispose of materials like batteries, paints and household cleaners properly at the Napa County HHW Facility.

ABOUT US

Upper Valley Disposal & Recycling (UVD&R)
Clover Flat Resource Recovery Park

We’ve been serving the Upper Napa Valley community for over almost 60 years. Both companies are environmental leaders recognized for their innovation and ingenuity by National Geographic, California Department of Food & Agriculture, CalRecycle, OMRI, among others.

Learn more about us.

Join our team!

CONTACT CLOVER FLAT
RESOURCE RECOVERY

CONTACT UVD&R

© 2022 Upper Valley Disposal & Recycling 

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