POCATELLO — City residents who participate in a supplemental yard waste collection service will have their yard waste bins emptied on their usual garbage collection day, beginning April 1.

The city had been collecting yard waste on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

“We used to have to put out two drivers on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Now with it being spread out, we can have one driver,” said Debbie Brady, the city’s recycling coordinator.

Brady said having all collections for each resident occur on the same weekday should simplify the public’s efforts to keep track of collection dates.

The program now includes about 1,800 carts and is responsible for diverting more than 2,100 tons of yard waste from the landfill since its inception in the spring of 2013. Before the program was created, she said many residents resorted to ordering a second cart for the entire year, at extra cost of $16.68 per month. In addition to being significantly cheaper, she said residents don’t pay for the designated yard waste carts during winter months, when they’re not needed.

The city charges residents an extra $5 per month for yard waste service. Yard waste bins are blue with brown lids. The program accepts grass clippings, leaves and garden trimmings, which are taken to the county landfill to decompose and become compost. The county sells the resulting compost for $35 per ton. Yard waste collection runs from April to November.

Brady said the program doesn’t accept branches, because there’s no chipper to break them down, or pine needles, which would make compost too acidic. She said area farmers bring in their hay and manure to blend with the compost.

The program also saves the city money in disposal costs: the county charges $10 per month to dispose of yard waste, compared with $29 per month for general garbage.

The county uses some of the compost in reclaiming retired panels of the landfill.

Hannah Sanger, the city’s Science and Environment Division manager, said the city has also used the compost in certain landscaping projects. Sanger has also purchased compost for landscaping her own home.

“They give you a printout of the nutrient level. It tends to be high in nitrogen, depending on how long it’s aged,” Sanger said, advising residents to blend the compost with native soil.