El Cerrito residents can request their free food scraps pail to be delivered to their home by calling 510-215-4350 or emailing green@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or stopping into the Recycling Center main offices, located at 7501 Schmidt Lane, during normal office hours.

Raccoons and other pests are also attracted to food scraps that you currently put in your garbage cart; simply use the same methods to keep them out of your yard waste cart as you do currently.

City staff will take complaints about nuisances resulting from mis-management of compostable materials seriously and will investigate reports about smells or pest issues and take appropriate code enforcement action.

Exposed food scraps will tend to attract fruit flies, ants, and other insects if left uncovered. There are several ways to manage this problem, including: covering your food scraps with grass clipping or other yard debris, putting your food scraps in paper bags or wrapping them in other compost-safe paper (i.e. brown paper, butcher paper, and possibly newspaper), and putting your food scraps in approved compostable liners or bags (specifics still being determined).

The program is a voluntary way to reduce your environmental footprint and the amount of waste you send to the landfill. If you have concerns about your own ability to participate without properly managing bad odors or pests, you may continue to use your garbage bin to dispose of your food scraps.

Participation in the food scrap composting program is not an all-or-nothing proposition. If you have concerns about particular food scrap items creating a bad odor or attracting pests (i.e. dairy and meat) then please continue to use your garbage cart to dispose of these items.

Yes, all food scraps and food soiled paper are now accepted via the weekly green waste collection program.

Yes, El Cerrito's long-time drop-off Recycling Center has reopened as the new Recycling and Environmental Resource Center at the end of Schmidt Lane.

For a complete list of where to recycle what, visit Contra Costa recycling.

Contra Costa Recycling

The El Cerrito Recycling Center does not do buy-back for any recyclable materials.

Go to www.bottlesandcans.com to search for a facility near you that redeems California Redemption Value (CRV) glass, plastic, and aluminum beverage containers.

You can also visit the Contra Costa County database of recyclers to look up particular items.

NO -- at this time we are not accepting hardblock, white Expanded Polystyrene / EPS / Styrofoam^™ at the Recycling Center. Check the RecycleWhere? website for possible alternatives.