How Do You Compost in an Apartment?
The easiest way to compost in an apartment is to freeze your scraps and drop them off at a collection point, or use curbside pickup if your city offers it. To make compost yourself, a worm bin or bokashi bucket fits under a sink and does not smell when managed well.
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Pick the method that fits your space and time
You have six realistic options in an apartment. Four of them make something you can use. Two of them hand your scraps to someone else who does the composting. There is no wrong choice. The best method is the one you will keep doing.
| Method | Space needed | Rough cost | Effort | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worm bin | Under a sink or in a closet, about 2 x 1.5 ft (60 x 45 cm) | Low: a tote and about 1 lb of worms | Feed 2 to 3 times a week, harvest every 3 to 6 months | Worm castings, a rich finished compost |
| Bokashi bucket | Under a sink, one or two 5-gallon (19 L) buckets | Low to moderate: kit plus ongoing bran | Add scraps and bran daily, drain every 2 to 3 days | Fermented scraps that still need 2 to 4 weeks in soil |
| Electric food recycler | Countertop | High: hundreds of dollars plus electricity | Load and press a button | Dried, ground food, not finished compost |
| Freezer plus drop-off | A bag or container in the freezer | Free | One trip a week or two | Nothing to manage at home |
| Community garden | None at home | Free or small membership | Carry scraps over | Often a share of finished compost |
| Municipal curbside | A kitchen caddy | Free or included in fees | Put the bin out on collection day | Nothing to manage at home |
If you only want less trash and no fuss, start with the freezer or curbside. If you want compost for plants, choose a worm bin or bokashi.
Worm bins
A worm bin is the only true indoor composting method that produces finished compost with no second step. Red wigglers eat fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and shredded paper, and turn them into castings in a few months. A 10 to 18 gallon (40 to 70 L) tote handles the scraps of one or two people.
Worm bins need room temperature, roughly 55 to 77°F (13 to 25°C), and a little attention. They cannot take meat, dairy, or large amounts of citrus and onion. The full setup is in the vermicomposting guide.
Bokashi
Bokashi ferments scraps in a sealed bucket with inoculated bran. It takes almost all food, including meat and dairy, and the sealed lid keeps flies out. The catch is that the fermented material is not compost yet. It has to go into soil or a pile for another 2 to 4 weeks.
In an apartment, finish it in a large lidded tub of old potting soil, or take it to a community garden. Bokashi also pairs well with a worm bin. See bokashi composting for the method.
Electric food recyclers
Countertop units sold as “electric composters” are mostly dryer-grinders. They heat and grind food over a few hours into a dry, crumbly material that is a fraction of the original volume. They are clean, quick, and odor-free.
Be clear about what comes out, though. The output is dried food, not finished compost. It has not been broken down by microbes. If you put it straight into pots in quantity, it can rehydrate, go moldy, and tie up nitrogen as it decomposes. Mix small amounts into soil, or add it to a compost pile or community bin, and give it several weeks. These machines also cost far more than other options and use electricity for every cycle.
They make sense if you want the least mess and have the budget. They make less sense if your goal is garden-ready compost.
Freezer plus drop-off
This is the simplest method and it works almost anywhere. Keep a container or bag in the freezer and add scraps as you cook. Freezing stops smell and flies completely. When it is full, take it to a drop-off point.
Look for drop-offs at:
- Farmers markets, many of which run weekly food-scrap collection
- Municipal transfer stations or recycling centers
- Community gardens and urban farms
- Local composting businesses and co-ops
Drop-off programs are usually run at industrial scale, so many accept meat, bones, and dairy that you would never put in a backyard pile. Check the local rules before you bring them.
Community gardens
Many community gardens have shared compost bins and welcome scraps from neighbors. Some ask you to become a member or to follow a list of accepted materials. In return, you often get access to finished compost, which solves the “what do I do with it” problem for other methods too.
Municipal curbside collection
If your city collects food scraps with yard waste or in a separate bin, use it. It takes the widest range of materials of any option, and it requires nothing but a kitchen caddy. Ask your building manager whether the building participates. Some cities require it for larger buildings.
Controlling smell and fruit flies
Most apartment compost problems come from wet food sitting exposed to air. Fix that and the rest mostly follows.
- Use a lidded kitchen caddy and empty it every 2 to 3 days. A charcoal-filter lid helps.
- Freeze scraps if you cannot empty the caddy often. Frozen scraps also break down faster in a worm bin.
- Cover food in bins. In a worm bin, bury every feeding under 1 to 2 in (3 to 5 cm) of bedding and keep a layer of dry shredded paper on top.
- Keep dry material on hand. Shredded newspaper or cardboard absorbs excess moisture, the main cause of smell.
- Trap flies already present with a small dish of cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap.
- Rinse the caddy with hot water between uses.
A sour or rotten smell means too much food and too little air or dry material. The smell troubleshooting guide covers each type.
Balcony composting
A balcony gives you more options, if your lease and building rules allow it.
- Small tumblers of 20 to 40 gallons (75 to 150 L) are sealed, easy to turn, and suit a balcony. They will not get hot enough to kill weed seeds at that size, but they work fine for kitchen scraps mixed with browns. See bin vs tumbler vs pile.
- Worm bins work outdoors in mild weather. Keep them in shade and bring them in when temperatures drop near freezing or climb past about 85°F (29°C).
- Bokashi buckets can live outside year-round. Fermentation slows in the cold but does not stop.
Put a tray under any balcony bin to catch drips, and do not let liquid run onto a neighbor’s balcony below.
What to do with the output
You do not need a garden to use compost.
- Houseplants and balcony pots. Mix finished compost or worm castings into potting mix at about 1 part compost to 3 or 4 parts mix, or top-dress pots with a thin layer.
- Refresh old potting soil. Mix finished compost or bokashi into last year’s potting soil in a lidded tub. After a few weeks, it is ready to reuse.
- Give it away. Community gardens, school gardens, neighbors, and street-tree volunteers usually welcome it.
- Drop it off with your scraps if you make more than you can use.
The guide to using compost has ratios for pots, beds, and lawns.
Next step
If you want to make compost at home, start with a worm bin or a bokashi bucket. If you just want scraps out of the trash, find your nearest drop-off this week and start a freezer bag today.
Frequently asked questions
Does apartment composting smell?
It should not. A worm bin smells like damp soil and a sealed bokashi bucket only smells sour when opened. Bad smells come from too much wet food and not enough dry material. See why compost smells.
Can I compost in an apartment without worms?
Yes. A bokashi bucket ferments scraps without worms, and freezing scraps for a drop-off site needs nothing but freezer space. An electric food recycler also works without worms, though its output is dried food, not finished compost.
Is an electric composter real composting?
Most countertop units are dryer-grinders. They heat and grind food into a dry, shrunken material in a few hours. That output is not finished compost. It needs to be mixed into soil or a compost pile and left to break down for several weeks before plants can use it.
How do I get rid of fruit flies from my compost?
Keep food covered with a layer of dry paper or bedding, store scraps in a sealed container or the freezer, and empty the kitchen caddy every few days. A small dish of cider vinegar with a drop of dish soap catches the flies already there.
What can I do with compost if I do not have a garden?
Use it in houseplant and balcony pots, give it to a community garden, share it with neighbors, or offer it to a school garden. Worm castings in particular are welcome almost anywhere plants grow.
Can I keep a compost bin on my balcony?
Yes, if your lease and building rules allow it. Small closed bins, tumblers, worm bins, and bokashi buckets all work. Shade the bin in summer and bring worm bins inside when it freezes.
Is composting in an apartment worth it?
For most households, yes. Food scraps are a large share of household trash, and diverting them cuts garbage volume and smell noticeably. A freezer-and-drop-off routine takes a few minutes a week and costs nothing.