Boise, ID Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Boise City Code section 10-4-2-5 makes residential curbside composting a voluntary service available to every residential property; a customer who opts in is issued a gray wheeled cart with a green lid, distinguishing it from the mandatory gray trash cart under section 10-4-2-3. Public Works maintains and may modify the list of accepted compostable materials, but the ordinance itself excludes meat-eating animal wastes, meats, dairy products, oils and grease, breads, grains, pasta, fish, dirt and rocks, and any other recyclable or trash material from the compost cart.

Notably, items marketed as 'compostable' or 'bio-based,' including bags, cutlery and cups, are explicitly not accepted, and no plastic bags of any kind may be used to contain compostable material. Yard debris gets specific handling rules: branches and tree trimmings up to eight inches in diameter can be set out next to the cart if they are cut to four feet or less, weigh under sixty pounds, and are bundled with string. Christmas trees follow the same size limit; they must be stripped of all ornaments, lights, tinsel and stands before being placed in or next to the cart, cut to four feet or less where possible.

Leaves are collected as compostable material year-round, but once the cart is full, extra leaves must go into paper leaf bags rather than plastic, and Public Works may cap the number of leaf bags collected per household each week. A contaminated compost cart, one holding trash or disallowed materials, gets emptied as ordinary trash under subsection F, and the city or hauler may bill the customer for extra trash collection or terminate compost service for repeat violations.