How to Keep Insects Out of Your Trash, Compost, and Yard Waste Bins

One of the worst discoveries to make in Minnesota summer is opening your trash bin to find maggots. Of course, maggots are not the only insect that plagues trash, compost, and yard waste bins: flies, ants, wasps, worms, and roaches can all be found haunting your bins.

With good strategy and management, you can keep your bins free of pests and odor. Keep reading to find out more.

Smart Waste Disposal

Insects need organic material (food scraps and yard waste) in order to thrive. If you can prevent the insects from accessing organic material in your bins, they cannot survive and reproduce. In a trash bin environment, it is nearly impossible to prevent access entirely. It is possible to reduce access through smart waste disposal:

Double-bag wet food or yard waste.
Wrap discarded meat and fish in plastic. Meat can carry fly eggs that sprout larvae when left in the compost or trash bin.
Let yard waste dry in the sun before loading into your yard waste bin.
Avoid putting food waste directly into bins, always bag organic material.
Consider freezing meat and fish for disposal on the day before collection.

Bin Maintenance

The first problem that insects must overcome is access to waste. If your bins have loose fitting lids or holes, it is critical to get them fixed. Replacing a trash bin lid is straightforward, most use a hinge-pin to attach the lid. Replacing a bin lid is a cheap and fast DIY project. If your bins are managed by your waste company, landlord, or the city, call them first before attempting to fix the bins on your own. If there is damage to other areas of the bin, you should consider replacing the entire bin.

The second key aspect of bin maintenance is regular cleaning. You should spray your bin, at minimum, once per year to extend the life of your bin. However, to solve an insect problem you should clean your bin once per month. We recommend our bin cleaning service, as our sanitization will kill fly eggs—keeping maggots at bay. But spraying out your bins with a garden hose once a month will flush out waste that the insects need to survive.

Natural Deterrents

Dusting diatomaceous earth (purchaseable at most garden centers) inside your bin can be an effective deterrent. Diatomaceous earth is harmless to humans and pets, but is deadly to crawling insects. Essential oils such as peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea tree oil are known to have natural insect repelling properties.

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