HOUSTON, Texas — Houston residents who want to keep their Halloween pumpkins out of the trash can bring them to one of two city drop-off sites, where they will be turned into compost instead of heading to a landfill.
Houston Public Works restarted its yearly Pumpkin Compost Drop-Off Program on Saturday, Oct. 24, and it runs through Nov. 28. The program is a joint effort between the department’s Solid Waste Management Division and City Council Member Sallie Alcorn, who holds At-Large Position 5.
Pumpkins are accepted at the city’s Reuse Warehouse on North Main Street, at 9003 N. Main St., and at the Westpark Recycling Center, 5900 Westpark. Both sites open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. They shut down for the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 26 and 27, then reopen for one final day on Saturday, Nov. 28.
Whole pumpkins, carved jack-o-lanterns, seeds and pulp are all fine. Everything that is not organic has to come off first, including candles, wax, stickers, paint, glitter, tape and plastic. Bring the pumpkins loose and drop them straight into the bins rather than in bags or boxes.
There is no charge for city residents and no need to register or show proof of where you live. Each household can bring up to one truck bed of pumpkins, and commercial loads are turned away. Pumpkins do not belong in curbside recycling carts, since the city’s regular recycling service will not take them.
This is the sixth year for the program, which has kept upward of 63,000 pounds of organic waste out of landfills since 2022. Public Works Director Randy Macchi called pumpkin composting an easy seasonal habit with a real payoff and urged more residents to take part this year.
Filed under: Houston TX Home & Garden News