The Borough collects the leaves during the fall to recycle them into compost for the residents of the Borough. View leaf collection dates and guidelines.

The Borough will collect your leaves at least twice during the fall. The leaves must be bagged in garbage bags and a green sticker must be obtained from the Borough Office, at 340 West Union Street, and placed on each bag to be collected. Once the bags our tagged properly, they can be placed curbside and will be picked up on the designated dates. They are then taken to the compost site which the Borough will turn the leaves into compost. It takes about two years for the leaves to turn to compost. The reason for the green tags? Your name and address is retained so once the leaves turn to soil, the residents whose leaves were collected, are eligible to receive free compost. This soil is good for gardens, flower beds, and fill. Grass clippings will also be accepted for this process, but they must be dropped of at the Somerset Borough Garage, 644 South Franklin Ave, which is across from the Somerset High School.

The three stages for the leaves once they are collected are illustrated below. The process includes, but is not limited to, turning the leaves with a dozer. This allows for circulation within the compost pile. Taking the temperature is an important step in the process. When leaves are put into a pile such as compost. They can become warm and cause spontaneous combustion. Temperature readings are taken on a daily basis, to prevent this from happening. Once the soil is in stage two, the semi soil is moved to another pile to set longer. When the leaves have turned to soil, it is then screened and filtered to remove any debris from it. The result is a very rich soil.

See also Grass Clippings