FREE COMPOST AVAILABLE AT MONROE COUNTY TRANSFER STATIONS ON FIRST SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH

​MONROE COUNTY, FL – Monroe County and Monroe County’s yard waste contractor will offer free compost (nutrient-rich black dirt) to unincorporated Monroe County residents and cities of Marathon, Key Colony Beach, Islamorada, and Layton residents at the County’s three transfer stations on the first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or until it is gone. Residents can fill one 32-gallon trash can or six 5-gallon buckets with compost. Proof of residency is required in the form of a driver’s license, utility bill, tax bill, etc. Residents are limited to one pick-up per household. You must bring your own shovel and be able to load the containers on your own or bring someone to assist you.
 
Monroe County’s transfer station locations:

• Cudjoe Key, MM 21.5, Blimp Rd.
• Long Key, MM 68
• Key Largo, 1100 County Rd. 905

 
“This program has been incredibly popular with our residents,” said Monroe County Solid Waste Director Cheryl Sullivan. “This is a great way to spruce up your backyard with compost generated here in Monroe County.”
 
The compost is vegetation picked up on yard waste day throughout Monroe County and brought to the mainland. On the mainland, the vegetation goes through a breakdown process to turn the yard waste into compost given away at the transfer stations.
 
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE COMPOST PROCESS:

• Old Castle, the processing center, has 50 acres in Glades County to process yard waste vegetation, which is one of several locations throughout the United States.

• It takes one ton of yard waste to produce one cubic yard of compost.
• Last year, Monroe County Transfer Stations received 27,563 tons of vegetation from throughout the County.
• Approximately three million bags of soil products are produced from Monroe County vegetation and distributed from Vero Beach to Key West and throughout the Caribbean.