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Residential Recycling » Yard Waste Collection Centers

The District provides for two collection centers in the country for residents to drop-off yard waste materials such as grass, leaves and branches. These centers recycled more than 83,000 yards of residential yard waste materials in 2006. A highly usable material, yard waste comprises more than 15% of all waste disposed.

The Lucas County Solid Waste Management District contracts for two yard waste recycling facilities to provide drop-off collection services for single family* residential yard waste. Residents with proof of Lucas County residency may deliver their materials to these facilities free of charge. Through this District Program, these facilities recycled more than 64,000 yards of residential yard waste materials in 2005. The District is also developing satellite programs with municipalities for implementation.

Yard Waste Materials comprise more than 15% of all waste disposed. Composting is a natural way to recycle, creating a usable, fertile soil and landscape mulch. Recognizing this recovery and reuse application, the State of Ohio encacted a law in 1993 prohibiting the disposal of yard waste in landfills.

*Commercial businesses, rental properties, haulers, lawn and landscape companies are welcome to use the facilities but will be charged a fee for their materials.

Locations Click here for flyer

The Lucas County Solid Waste Management District Yard Waste Collection Centers are located at:

Clean Wood Recycling 6505 W. Bancroft St. Toledo, Ohio 43615 419-843-9663

Clean Wood Recycling 5330 Stickney Avenue Toledo, Ohio 43612 419-727-9668

Clean Wood Hours
April-October Monday-Friday 8:00am - 7:00pm Saturday-Sunday 8:00am - 5:00pm	November-March Monday-Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm Saturday 8:00am - 2:00pm Sunday Closed

Materials Acceptable

shrubbery
wood chips
grass clippings
leaves
Christmas trees
tree trunks 10” in diameter or under
branches and limbs less than 6’ in length
pallets

The Essentials of Composting

	Biology The compost pile is really a teeming microbial farm. Bacteria start the process of decaying organic matter. They are the first to break down plant tissue and also the most numerous and effective composters. Fungi and protozoans join the bacteria and, somewhat later in the cycle, helpful insects and worms do their part.
	Materials Anything growing in your yard is potential food for your compost pile. For best results combine brown materials, (leaves, woodchips, small amounts of wood ashes, pine needles) and green materials, (grass clippings, vegetable and fruit waste, garden residue). Mix two parts green materials with one part brown materials. Layering can be useful in arriving at these proportions.
	Surface Area The more surface area the micro-organisms have to work on, the faster the materials are decomposed. It’s like a block of ice in the sun-slow to melt when it’s large, but melting very fast when broken into smaller pieces. Chopping your garden waste with a shovel, machete, lawnmower or shredding machine will speed the composting process.
	Volume A large compost pile will insulate itself and hold the heat of microbial activity. Its center will be warmer than its edges. Piles smaller than 3 feet cubed (27 cu. ft.) will have trouble holding this heat, while piles larger than 5 feet cubed (125 cu. ft.) don’t allow enough air to reach the microbes at the center. These proportions are of importance only if your goal is a fast, hot compost.
	Moisture and Aeration All life on earth needs a certain amount of water and air to sustain itself. The microbes in the compost pile are no different. They function best when the compost materials are about as moist as a wrung-out sponge and are provided with many passages. Extremes of sun or rain can adversely affect this moisture balance in your pile.
	Time and Temperature The faster the composting, the hotter the pile. If you use materials with a proper green/brown material ratio, provide a large amount of surface area and a big enough volume and see that moisture and aeration are adequate, you will have a hot, fast compost, and will probably want to use the turning unit. If you just want to deal with your yard wastes in an inexpensive, easy non-polluting way, a holding unit will serve you well.

Vermicomposting

If you live in an apartment or work in an office where you do not have any yard space for a compost bin, you could try vermicomposting. Vermicomposting means composting with red wriggler worms. This type of composting can be done indoors.

Setting up a vermicompost is not too hard to do. All you need is a worm bin (it could be a plastic bin or wooden box with air holes punched in it). You should put a layer of bedding material, about a foot deep (such as newspaper, sawdust or mulched leaves) on the bottom of the worm box and keep the bedding material moist. You can then keep red wrigglers in your worm box. To feed your worms, set aside food wastes throughout the week and once or twice a week feed the worms.

Community Composting

What should I do if I would like to start a community composting program?

There are many steps to starting a community compost program, such as choosing a location for the pile, determining who will be responsible for maintaining the site, and how you will let residents in your community know about the site. You will want to be sure to begin by contacting the appropriate people in your community that can help you make those kinds of decisions.

Promoting home composting is a great addition to existing community composting programs and will help gain public support for new organics programs. A mindful composting community will be more likely to support a larger scale project and sort materials properly, leading to a decrease in contamination and an increase in participation.

What can you compost?

Here is a list of things you can compost¹¹

Cardboard rolls
Clean paper
Coffee grounds and filters
Cotton rags
Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
Eggshells

Fireplace ashes
Fruits and vegetables
Grass clippings
Hair and fur
Hay and straw
Houseplants
Leaves

Nut shells
Sawdust
Shredded newspaper
Tea bags
Wood chips
Wool rags
Yard trimmings

Do not put these in your compost bin/pile¹²:

Meat, dairy, bones
Pet wastes
Mature weed seeds
BBQ ashes

Eggs
Peanut Butter
Infected plants
Plants high in toxins (e.g. rhubarb leaves)

Vegetable oil
Salad dressing
Waste from wood that has been treated with chemicals

Give Food Waste New Life

What is humus?

What happens after we put our organic wastes into the compost bin? After you have successfully set up your composting site, you can leave the micro organisms to break down the wastes that you put into the bin. Humus is the end product of composting and is one of the richest soil amendments around. Applying compost on or in the soil adds organic matter rich in nutrients. Plants, grass, shrubs, flowers, and vegetable gardens will all benefit from compost's ability to improve soil quality and increase fertility.

You have to be careful not to use your humus on your garden until the breakdown process has finished. If you apply humus too early, it could cause stress to your plants. Your compost is finished when you can not recognize the original contents and the compost is not generating much heat. Finished compost will be dark with an earthy smell.

You can use humus to fertilize your garden rather than buying chemical fertilizers. You will be providing the plants with rich nutrients and can save yourself money. Your compost will not only reduce the amount of waste that reaches the landfill but it will improve your soils and your growing conditions.