New Bedford jack-o'-lanterns can be composted after Halloween, with yard waste pickups running to Dec. 7

NEW BEDFORD New Bedford residents who want to keep their jack-o'-lanterns out of the trash after Halloween can set them out with curbside yard waste, which the city collects through the week of Dec. 7, or bring them to the Recycling Center on Shawmut Avenue. A paid curbside food scrap service that started in the city this fall adds another option.

The Greater New Bedford Regional Refuse Management District composts the city's yard waste at the Crapo Hill Landfill. Its pumpkin guidance for New Bedford, dated Oct. 22, 2025, says unpainted pumpkins and cornstalks can go out with grass, leaves and small twigs on a household's yard waste day, in a paper yard waste bag or loose in a barrel, not in city-issued trash or recycling carts. Lights, candles, twine, rope and wire have to come off first.

Curbside yard waste

Under the city's 2026 schedule, as the New Bedford Light's calendar lists it, yard waste is collected the day after each household's regular trash day, and Friday trash routes are picked up the following Monday. Materials go to the curb by 7 a.m. in paper yard waste bags or yard waste barrels. Plastic bags are not allowed.

With Halloween on a Saturday, homes on the Friday trash route get their first yard waste pickup after the holiday on Monday, Nov. 2. The last collection week starts Monday, Dec. 7, which is also the final pickup day for the Friday route.

Shawmut Avenue drop-off

Yard waste and brush can also go to the Recycling Center, 1103 Shawmut Ave., open noon to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The district's guidance says to check in with the attendant before leaving pumpkins and cornstalks in the grass and leaves section.

The same site has carts for the city's free food waste drop-off, which the district says takes all unpackaged food waste, even bones and seafood shells. It is open to New Bedford residents only, with proof of residency. Plastic bags and wrap, packaging, cans, pet waste, plates, cups and utensils are not accepted. Free countertop containers and compostable bags are available, while supplies last, at the Department of Facilities and Fleet Management, 294 Liberty St., 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays.

Curbside food scrap pickup

The city and the district partnered with Black Earth Compost on a curbside food scrap service for New Bedford, with pickups on Fridays and the first collection scheduled for Sept. 25. The company's New Bedford page says it accepts all food scraps, plant trimmings, soiled paper and certified compostable tableware. "If it grows, it goes in the bin," the page says.

At launch, weekly pickup cost $21.99 a month or $119.99 for six months, and pickup every other week cost $17.99 a month or $94.99 for six months. The district says the prices are tiered and drop as more customers sign up. The district paid for free starter kits for the first 100 New Bedford residents who enrolled.

Backyard bins and free compost

Pumpkins and cornstalks can also go into a backyard compost bin. The district sells the Earth Machine and the New Age Composter for $25 each to New Bedford and Dartmouth residents with ID, a price the two communities subsidize, at the Crapo Hill Landfill scale house, 300 Samuel Barnet Blvd. The scale house is open 7:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and 8 to 10:45 a.m. Saturdays and takes cash, checks or money orders only.

The compost the landfill makes from New Bedford and Dartmouth yard waste is free to residents of both communities. It is self-serve: check in at the scale house and bring a shovel and container.

Questions

The city's Department of Facilities and Fleet Management answers questions about city programs at 508-979-1520. The refuse district takes composting questions at 508-979-1493, or by text at 774-503-0254.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.