Transfer Station Food Waste Collection

The Transfer Station and Recycling Center has a compost bin available for Acton residents to use. Click here for a breakdown of the fees associated with using Acton's Transfer Station and Recycling Center.

Print this list of acceptable and non-acceptable items.

Acceptable Items

  • Raw or cooked meat and seafood, including bones and shells
  • Dairy products, eggs and eggshells
  • Pasta, bread, grains and cereals
  • Fruit and vegetables, including pits and shells
  • Cake, cookies, candies including gum
  • Coffee grounds with filters and tea bags
  • Soup, stews, yogurt
  • Cooking oil, grease
  • House plants, flowers, floral trimmings
  • Hair (human and animal), fur
  • Soiled paper (paper towels, napkins, pizza disks) NO
    CHEMICALS
  • Waxed cardboard, wax paper (but no cardboard milk & juice cartons)
  • Animal bedding (from bird /hamster cages) including waste
  • Sawdust, wood chopsticks
  • Wine corks (not plastic!)
  • Tissues, paper towels, paper napkins (no blood or feces)
  • Paper cotton swabs and cotton balls
  • Bunny, chicken & hamster waste
  • Coconut shells
  • Nut shells
  • Wooden popsicle sticks
  • Peanut Shells

Non-Acceptable Items

  • Branches, sticks, dirt, pebbles
  • Plastic bags
  • Plastic
  • Cartons - milk, juice, etc.
  • Cigarettes
  • Dead animals
  • Dental floss
  • Diapers
  • Dog and cat waste
  • Cat litter
  • Dryer sheets
  • Sanitary products
  • Textiles
  • Wipes with chemicals (baby or disinfectant)
  • Wood
  • Any non-compostable take-out chairs
  • Dryer lint
  • Paper with chemicals