Food Scraps

Cottage Grove is excited to offer food scraps recycling! The food scraps (organics) self-service drop-off site is now available for use behind the Cottage Grove Public Works building at 8635 West Point Douglas Road (see map below). The food scraps collected will be turned into compost. 

Food Scraps Drop Location

More Information:

More than 1/3 of our trash is organic material that can be recycled into compost. Recycling food scraps is an easy way to reduce the amount of trash being sent to landfills. The Cottage Grove food scraps drop-off is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Compostable bags must be used - do not put plastic bags in the City's food scraps dumpster. Compostable bags come packed in your collection container and are available for free at the drop-off site. Please only take one bag per visit.

The Cottage Grove food scraps drop-off program is made possible by a recycling grant from Washington County. For more information on this program and other Washington County programs, please see the Quick Links section.

How It Works:

  1. Pick up your free food scraps kitchen caddy and compostable bags in the vestibule of the Cottage Grove Public Works building at 8635 West Point Douglas Road S. 
  2. Collect your food scraps at home in the container using a compostable bag provided (i.e. not a plastic bag). Refer to the list below for assistance on accepted items.
  3. Dispose of the populated bag at the drop-off site and grab another bag from the dispenser.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3.


Kitchen Caddy Image

Food Scraps Kitchen Caddy

Questions?

Contact Joe Fox, PE, City of Cottage Grove Project Engineer at 651-458-2826 or via email at joefox@cottagegrovemn.gov

ACCEPTED ITEMS

  • Fruit and vegetables
  • Meat, fish, and bones
  • Dairy products
  • Eggs and egg shells
  • Bread, pasta, beans, and rice
  • Nuts and shells
  • Coffee grounds, filters, and tea bags
  • Animal and pet food
  • Paper towels, napkins and tissues
  • Pizza delivery boxes
  • Paper egg cartons
  • Dirty paper bags
  • Certified compostable paper and plastic cups, plates, bowls, utensils, and containers
  • Look for the BPI logo to ensure it is compostable