COMPOST PROGRAM

Drop off your compost on Saturdays during Market hours! The Carrboro Farmers' Market partners with Orange County Solid Waste Management and the Town of Carrboro to offer a free food waste drop-off for local residents and farmers’ market attendees every Saturday Market Day year-round.

Compost Update: Compost drop-off at the Carrboro Farmers' Market has moved! Visitors can now drop off their compost in the bins behind Carrboro Town Hall at any time. 

ACCEPTED ITEMS:

  • All food scraps (cooked and uncooked)

  • Meat, dairy, and fish

  • Small chicken and fish bones

  • Eggs and eggshells

  • Nuts and nut shells

  • Coffee grounds and tea bags (staples removed)

  • Wooden coffee stirrers

  • Houseplant trimmings

  • Bread, grains, pasta, cereal

  • Wax and parchment paper

  • Non-coated paper products (napkins, straw wrappers, copy paper, coffee filters, paper grocery bags, cardboard rolls, paper towels, tissue paper, paper egg cartons)*

  • 100% bamboo silverware

  • Fiber-based serving ware (plates, bowls, etc.)

    *Paper products that have been used with cleaning products are NOT accepted

UNACCEPTED ITEMS:

  • Plastic, metal, and glass

  • Plastic bags/film

  • Gloves

  • Compostable plastics (even if they are BPI-Certified Compostable)

  • Compostable bags (even if they are BPI-Certified Compostable)

  • Produce stickers

  • Styrofoam

  • Hair and fur

  • Diapers

  • Tobacco products

  • Vitamins and drugs

  • Dryer lint and sheets

  • Products coated with plastic, glitter, foil, or cleansers

  • Painted materials and paint

  • Clam, oyster, and mussel shells (OC has an oyster shell program – businesses can drop

  • off oyster shells for free at the OC Landfill on Eubanks Rd.)

  • Butter wrappers

  • Butcher paper

  • Popcorn bags

  • Oatmeal bags

  • Cartons (coated), such as juice and broth cartons

  • Mesh netting

  • Coated paper products (hot coffee cups, plastic-coated paper plates, etc.)

Click here to read more about food waste drop-off in Orange County, which includes a comprehensive list of acceptable compostable items as well as other food waste drop-off sites in the county.