If you are a home owner or multifamily tenant with your own service and you pay your own bill, you can email us through the inquiry form or call the office (707) 963-7988.

If you are a multifamily tenant with shared services and the property pays the garbage bill, you can ask your property manager to call us to request pails.

Exposed food scraps will tend to attract fruit flies, ants, and other insects if left uncovered.

There are several ways to manage this problem. Below are a few tips.

• Try keeping your cart in a cool dry place layering dry materials (leaves, paper, and straw) and wet materials (food waste and grass clippings will help keep the cart clean and will also help with odors.
• Cover your food scraps with grass clipping or other yard debris
  Put your food scraps in paper bags or wrapping them in other compost-safe paper (brown paper, butcher paper, and possibly newspaper)
• Put your food scraps in BPI certified approved compostable kitchen bags.

As of January,1, 2022, it is the law that food scraps and food soiled paper cannot go in the garbage (landfill) containers. This is to help reduce the harmful gasses that these materials release when landfilled and instead allow them to be used to make a beneficial and nutrient filled soil amendment, compost.

For more information this law, visit our Recycling Laws page.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept compostable plastic packaging in the compost (green).

Upper Valley Recycling produces compost from local yard trimmings and residential food scraps. Because it is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for organic farming applications and participates in the US Composting Council Seal of Testing Assurance program, it cannot accept any plastics at all even those labeled as “compostable” or “biodegradable”. All compostable/ bio-based plastic packaging should be placed in the gray garbage (landfill) bin.

ONLY BPI CERTIFIED compostable bags are allowed in the compost carts. 

Upper Valley Disposal & Recycling have been composting at their facility south of St Helena since 1966. The material arrives at the facility and the loads are checked for contamination. Any materials that are not accepted in the composting program are removed. The material is then loaded into a large grinder and the pieces are blended and reduced to a size smaller than 3 inches. The cleaned and ground material is then placed into what’s called a Covered Aerated Static Pile system, CASP for short. A large plastic pipe with small holes is laid down and the fresh ground organic waste is piled onto of the pipe. One end of the pipe is capped and the other end of the pipe is linked to a large blower. The top of the pile is covered with finished compost and moistened with recycled water, reducing the impacts of odors from escaping while the organic waste breaks down into compost. Air is forced into the pipe daily for 45 days. Temperatures reach 140—155 degrees. After 45 days the organic material has cycled into compost. It is screened and large pieces and any missed contaminants is removed. Large wood pieces that might still be present are called overs; they are returned for another composting cycle. Want to purchase some compost for your garden? Visit our Compost Sales page.