FAQ

Sometimes this does happen, each driver has between 70 and 90 stops each day, and they occasionally make a mistake. 

First thing, please make sure that your bin was not swapped – simply pick it up, or open it.  About 20% of the time, we have found that the driver has left the new bin in the same spot you left your full bin, and it may look like it was not swapped.

If your bin was not swapped, you can report a missed pickup in your customer portal by clicking here, send us an email at info@veterancompostdc.com, or call our office at (202) 556-3806

You can view your scheduled services and request service skips here. If you need additional assistance, please send us an email at info@veterancompostdc.com.

Food:  If the food is on your plate, please put it in the bin, this includes meats and grains. 

Paper towels from your kitchen, paper napkins, paper towel and toilet paper rolls (the cardboard part).

Compostable food containers, compostable flatware, dinnerware, plates and cups.  Any flatware, dinnerware, plate or cup that is clearly marked as compostable, can be put in your bin. 

Produce or storage bags that are marked as compostable.

Coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea bags (including the staples and strings).

Cooking grease or oil.

Any form of plastic.

Paper towels from the bathroom or garage.

Tissue paper or Kleenex.

Pet waste. 

Great question! We actually get asked this often.   About 4 years ago, we decided to move to a lined bin for two primary reasons:
  1. A lined bin allowed us to cut down on the amount of water that we used in the washing process, and we have eliminated using electricity in the process. When we began, we did not use a liner and because of the nature of food scraps, we had to use a power washer to get the bins cleaned up. We were using anywhere from 5 to 20 gallons of water per bin to get them clean, for a van of 80 bins, that added up to 400 to 1600 gallons of water per van, as well as 2-3 hours of electricity for the power washer. We now have 6 vans on the road – that was a lot of water! When we switched to liners, the amount of water we used dropped to less than 150 gallons per day, and we did not have to use the power washer, so, no electricity is used in our current process.
  2. The liners have extended the life of our bins. Our bins were wearing out after 12 months, some of them lasted 18 months. Now we have bins that have lasted over 2 years.
We did consider compostable bags and ran several tests on several different brands, sizes and types. Unfortunately, the compostable bags did not last a full week in the bin once food scraps were put in them. They would break down at the seams, leak and break when removed from the bin, so they didn’t do what we needed them to do.
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