Food Scraps Recycling Drop-off Returns April 11, 2026, with 'Towering' New Weight Goal

Free food scraps recycling drop-off at farmers' markets will be back once again this year, and with a new weight goal.

First Market Opening: Westside Community Market on Saturday, April 11, 2026

The first market site to reopen will be the West Community Market, on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Look for the free food scraps drop-off to drop off your coffee grounds, eggshells, and appropriate vegetable and fruit scraps so they can be composted.

At the booth, you can pick up a free bucket for carrying food scraps, a guide on what you can bring to compost, and learn a lot of other useful information from the Sustain Dane staffers working at the location.

Market Location

You will find the West Community Farmers' Market at 505 S Rosa Rd. The market is held in the parking lots of the MG&E Innovation Center at the University Research Park.

Market Hours

This food scraps drop-off will be available on Saturdays from 7:00am to 12:30pm.

Market Dates

The appropriate scraps will be accepted every Saturday morning starting on April 11, 2026, and ending on October 31, 2026.

More Market Information

Additional details about the Westside Community Market can be found on their website.

New Weight Goal Will be a "Towering" Achievement

This year we are hoping to collect 48,000 pounds of food scraps, or 24 tons.

This is the weight equivalent of roughly 24 giraffes (an average giraffe weighs around 2,000 pounds, give or take).

Did you know that a group of giraffes is called a tower? It's true! So 24 giraffes would count as a tower.

If we can reach our weight goal this year, or surpass it, you could say we had a "towering" achievement.

On the food scraps website, you will be able to track our weight collection progress.

What food scraps can you bring to the market to compost?

You can bring coffee grounds, eggshells, raw fruits, raw vegetables, and other similar scraps.

Do not bring meat, bones, baked goods, compostable plastics, paper products, grease, or dairy products (including cheese).

Read more about what you can, and cannot, bring in for composting to the food scraps drop-off sites on the Streets Division's Food Scraps website.

Staff at the food scraps drop-off tent will be there to help you, too, if you have any questions.

There will be more market sites opening later this year

The West Community Market is the first of four total market sites the City of Madison will have this season.

The markets begin collection at different times.

Details about each market site, including when they open, can be found on our food scraps website.

More food scraps information

Additional information about food waste prevention, food donation, and food scraps recycling can be found on the food scraps website.