Compost Site - Yard Waste Drop-Off

Address: Across the street from the Hazardous Waste Facility - 305 Energy Parkway NE, Rochester, MN 55906
Phone: 507-328-7070 Fax: 507-328-7090
Compost Site Hours: Open seven days a week during daylight hours
Department Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Email: pwservice@olmstedcounty.gov

Acceptable Yard Waste

Suggested Donation Rate: $5

  • Apples
  • Garden Waste
    • Beans
    • Bean vines
    • Blueberries
    • Cucumbers
    • Eggplants
    • Flowers
    • Loose leaf lettuce
    • Peas
    • Potatoes
    • Pumpkins
    • Radishes
    • Roots (if not woody)
    • Strawberries
    • Tomatoes
    • Tomato Vines
    • Watermelon
    • Zucchini
    • Grass
    • Hay (max of 10 clean bales)
      • Not to exceed 2ft x 2ft x 4ft per bale
    • Leaves
    • Sod & Uncontaminated Soil
      • Max of 8 cubic yards (free of rocks)
    • Straw (max of 10 clean bales)
      • Not to exceed 2ft x 2ft x 4ft per bale

Unacceptable Yard Waste

  • Blueberry cane
  • Branches
  • Brush
  • Fireplace ashes
  • Garbage
  • Hedge trimmings
  • Pet waste
  • Pine needles
  • Raspberry cane
  • Rocks
  • Rosebushes
  • Sawdust
  • Sweet corn & stalks
  • Tree bark
  • Tree shavings / Ground-up stumps
  • Walnuts
  • Noxious / Invasive weeds
  • Wood chips

Physical Distancing

Physically distance yourself at least six feet from others while dropping off yard waste or picking up compost to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Christmas Tree Disposal 

Through March, Christmas trees can be dropped off at the Olmsted County Compost Site any day of the week during daylight hours. There is no disposal fee, but residents should remove the stand, ornaments, and lights. 

Wreaths, swags, boughs, and other evergreen decorations should be placed in a bag and thrown in the garbage to prevent the spread of an invasive species know as the Elongate Hemlock Scale―a pest that feeds on conifer trees. Do not compost. 

Invasive Species - Jumping Worms

Jumping worms are an invasive species of earthworm that can strip nutrients from topsoil and damage the roots of plants in nurseries, gardens, and turf. Check your yard waste before bringing it to the Compost Site.

To date, jumping worms have not been found in the finished compost at the Compost Site.