The City of Muscatine has moved away from requiring residents to purchase compostable paper yard waste bags with the city name and logo on it for curbside yard waste collection, and is now selling stickers that can be attached to any compostable yard waste bag.
Solid Waste Manager David Popp told Muscatine City Council members at the July In-Depth meeting that the City is near the end of their supply of 20-gallon paper bags, a supply that was originally ordered in 2016.
“They do not make the 20-gallon compostable paper bags anymore so if we ordered a truckload of the 30-gallong paper bags, it may take up to 14 years to deplete that supply,” Popp said. “There would be a lot of waste.”
Instead, the City of Muscatine will be selling stickers that can be attached to any vendor’s compostable paper bag that could then be set curbside and picked up for free on the resident’s regular trash collection day. The cost is $1.50 per sticker with the stickers currently available at the Muscatine Transfer Station, Muscatine City Hall, Muscatine Public Works, Fareway, HyVee, and HyVee Mainstreet. Additional vendors are being sought.
“We believe that the use of the stickers and available compostable paper bags will be a cost savings to not only the City but also to the residents,” Popp said. “We appreciate the City Council providing consensus to proceed with using the stickers.”
Stickers are only needed on bags that would be set out curbside for the City to collect on the residents regular collection day. The top of the compostable bag should be folded up with the sticker applied to help keep the top closed. The sticker does need to be visible to City staff as they proceed on their collection route.
Residents would not have to purchase a sticker to take the compostable paper bags filled with yard waste to the Compost Facility. However, a fee will be charged for those who do not meet the residency requirements (must be a resident of Muscatine or Fruitland to deposit yard waste at the Compost Facility for free. Non-residents along with commercial and yard waste management services are charged a fee. See FEE SCHEDULE.
Guidelines for yard waste compostable bags for curbside collection include:
- Bags must contain yard waste only – no trash, recycling, building materials, or animal waste.
- Grass clippings, leaves, and garden waste must be placed in 20- or 30-gallon paper compostable bags and closed with a City of Muscatine yard waste sticker.
- Do not overfill bags (50 pound maximum) and keep them dry.
- Bags containing grass clippings, leaves, and garden waste will be picked up at the curb on the residents’ regular refuse collection day.
- Stickers are for City of Muscatine residential yard waste collection only.
- Place bags out to the curb after 4 p.m. the day before but before 5 a.m. the day of collection.
The Compost Facility at the Muscatine Transfer Station has screened compost ready and available for residents. There is no charge for an individual loading of the material themselves. However, if an individual needs assistance they can visit the staff in the Compost Facility building or the Transfer Station office to arrange for a staff member to assist. There is a small fee for the assistance.
Shredded mulch and firewood are also available for residents. However, those wanting firewood are asked to check in with the attendant at the Compost Facility and sign a waiver before cutting and/or loading firewood.
Please call the Muscatine Transfer Station at (563) 263-9689 for more information.