When Halloween ends, your pumpkin can keep on doing good! Keep it out of the landfill by composting it! If you don’t have a compost pile of your own, there are multiple places where you can drop it off to be composted or to be shared with farm animals.
Your pumpkin must be free of paint, decorations, candles and glitter.
Here are a few places to drop off your pumpkin.
Pumpkin Drop-Off in Durham
The City of Durham has several options for dropping off pumpkins that are unpainted and have no decoration like candles or glitters. The pumpkins will be processed at the compositing facility.
Residents can drop off their pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns at no charge at the Waste Disposal and Recycling Center, 2115 E. Club Blvd., from November 3 to December 1, 2025, during business hours.
Residents can also drop off pumpkins from 8 a.m. to noon on November 8, 15, 22, and December 6, 2025 at the below locations:
- The Home Depot: 2701 Mt. Moriah Rd and 1700 N. Pointe Dr., Durham, NC
- Lowe’s Home Improvement: 117 William Penn Plaza and 4402 Fayetteville Rd., Durham. NC
Composting Pumpkins in Raleigh and Wake County
There are three Wake County Food Scraps Composting Centers where you can drop off your pumpkin:
- Convenience Center #2, 6120 Old Smithfield Road in Apex
- Convenience Center #4, 3600 Yates Mill Pond Road in Raleigh
- Convenience Center #7, 9024 Deponie Drive in Raleigh
Also, two farmers’ markets collect food scraps during their open hours for composting:
- Midtown Farmers’ Market, 4191 Main at North Hills Street, Raleigh, NC 27609
- Western Wake Farmers’ Market, 280 Town Hall Drive, Morrisville, NC 27560
Make sure to read the instructions here.
Food Waste Recycling in Cary
Learn all about food waste recycling in Cary. You can drop your pumpkins (and other food waste) off at these locations:
Mills Park
425 Mills Park Drive
Open daily, sunrise to sunset
Citizen’s Convenience Center
313 N. Dixon Ave.
Open Monday – Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (holiday hours may vary)
Food Waste Recycling in Orange County
Orange County, North Carolina, residents can drop off food scraps at these waste and recycling centers:
- 1518 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill, NC
- 3605 Walnut Grove Church Road, Hillsborough, NC
Pumpkins for Pigs
On PumpkinsForPigs.org, there’s a list of farmers who would like donations of old pumpkins. Sometimes they accept other items as well, like Christmas trees and fruits and vegetables. Check to see if there’s one near you.
Double-Check Before You Head Out!
We make every effort to make sure that everything on Triangle on the Cheap is 100% accurate.
However, sometimes things change without notice, and it’s also possible that we can make a mistake.
Please verify all deals and events with the venue or organizer before you go.
More Events
Check out our list of free and cheap events in Raleigh and the rest of the Triangle this weekend, or our full event calendar in the Triangle, or just look at few upcoming events here:
Various locations
