Food Waste

Food waste drop-off is available at no cost for all STR residential customers. Drop-off at the STR Recycle Buy-Back Center at 2192 Ruth Ave. Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Additional program details are below.

Residential curbside pickup is available through the local nonprofit Tahoe Composts for an additional cost. Contact Tahoe Composts to learn more.

Commercial food waste collection is available through STR. Learn more here.

Thank you for helping to keep organic waste away from the landfill!

How to Drop Off Your Food Waste

View the video to discover the simplicity of delivering food waste to South Tahoe Refuse.

Food waste flyer

Important Details of the Program

Opening Hours and Location

Tuesday through Saturday, 9am – 4pm

Recycle Buy-Back Center, 2192 Ruth Ave. – No charge for STR customers

Customer Type

Now open to commercial customers that have solid waste service with STR (up to 20 gallons per week) as well as residential customers. You may be asked to verify your service address. Commercial customers will be required to provide the business name and address.

What type of waste do we accept?

Food only! No trash, paper, “compostable” material, or anything other than food. All types of food scraps are acceptable (dairy, meat, peels, pits, bones, etc.)

Limit per week

The limit is 5 gallons per residential customer per week, 20 gallons per commercial customer. We suggest bringing it in a bucket or reusable container (bags are ok too, we’ll have a separate container for them).