Organics and Composting in Philadelphia

Grape Leaf

Visit the Philly Compost site for the most comprehensive information about composting in Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, the City currently does not collect compostable material curbside. However, it does offer composting workshops from time to time. For details on the City's composting workshops, visit the City's website.

Leaf Collection

The City operates a leaf collection program in many areas throughout Philadelphia. For details on the City's leaf collection program, visit the Streets Department's website. The 2008 Leaf Collection Recycling Program will begin Monday, November 10 and will end Friday, December 19, and it will include two types of leaf collection: Bagged and Mechanical.

For bagged leaf collection, the Streets Department offers the following tips for residents (from their website):

  • Never mix trash or other recyclable materials with bagged leaves. This contaminates leaves and makes them unfit for recycling purposes.
  • Set out leaf bags the day before your regularly scheduled trash collection day. Crews make every effort to collect bags within 2 days of set out.
  • Citizens are urged to place leaves in large brown paper trash bags. By using these bags, you will help crews work more efficiently and more easily identify your bags as leaves. This helps to eliminate the extensive process of ripping open, dumping, and disposing of plastic bags. Leaves set out in other bags or containers may be collected as rubbish. Brown paper bags such as these can be purchased at most major home improvement stores.

For more information about mechanical collection and a list of frequently asked questions about leaf collection in Philadelphia, please visit the City's website.

Christmas Tree Collection

The City collects Christmas trees for recycling shortly following each holiday season. Visit the Streets Department's website for details on tree recycling in coming holiday season. Please note that these trees are not collected curbside, and residents must bring them to designated collection sites to ensure that they are recycled and not sent to the landfill. All trees collected curbside are treated as rubbish and sent to the landfill.