BELLINGHAM, Wash. — In the new year, everyone living in Bellingham will be required to have a compost bin. The city announced it’s making its FoodPlus! organic waste program mandatory.
By mid-2025, each household will have three bins: one for trash, one for recycling, and one for food waste.
Sean O’Neill, the city’s sanitation and solid waste manager, said at a Nov. 4 meeting that the goal is to reduce what’s ending up in landfills.
According to the Sanitary Service Company (SSC), the bins are for food scraps, compostable food-soiled products like greasy pizza boxes, yard waste, and woody debris. You can find a full list here.
SSC will empty the bins every other week.
O’Neill says about a third of SSC customers have opted into FoodPlus! which is about 8,000 households.
The required service costs $13.69 per month, according to The Bellingham Herald.
O’Neill says the service will be rolled out gradually over the first few months of 2025.