Ann Arbor has announced it’s expanding curbside compost collection and will begin offering monthly winter pickups starting Jan. 3. The city plans to use the new service to learn more about the challenges and benefits of winter compost collection. The city’s regular weekly compost pickups run from April to December each year and ended this month.
The new monthly winter pickups will occur the first full week of each month, the weeks of Jan. 3, Feb. 7 and March 7. Residents will have their compost cart serviced once a month on their regular curbside service day. “Only compost carts will be serviced during the winter months,” the city stated in its announcement. “Paper yard bags or bundled branches will not be collected. In addition, food scraps/waste, including meat and bones, are required to be in Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) certified or paper grocery bags to keep material from freezing to the carts, which may make them unserviceable. It is recommended that excess liquid be drained to prevent bags from deteriorating.”