Curbside compost collection is back!

The NYC Department of Sanitation will resume its program to collect residential organic waste, which includes food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste. In turn, these throwaways can be repurposed to create compost and energy, rather than releasing greenhouse gasses while decomposing in a landfill.

Residents must sign up to request the service, either through the online form or by calling 311. It will begin in Brooklyn Community Districts 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, Bronx 1?12, Manhattan 1?12, Queens 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and Staten Island 1, as well as Staten Island sanitation sections 3 and 4. 

Note, even if your neighborhood had service in the past, it is important you sign up again! At the end of each month, new customers (houses and buildings) will be able to participate if the number of local signups exceeds a minimum threshold. If not met right away, your neighborhood will be placed on a waitlist until more residents sign up.

While currently only neighborhoods in this select group of districts will be attended to we implore you to sign up even if your neighborhood is not currently eligible. This will help DSNY get a sense of demand across the city, with the potential to bring the curbside collection to your area. In locations of high demand, drop-off sites may be added until the service can be brought to your community.

Once you sign up, you will be notified by your Community Board if your district is eligible for the service. Limited service locations maximize material collected by trucks while avoiding inefficient truck routes and emissions. In the meanwhile, you can also engage in composting by bringing your scraps to a drop-off site, or begin composting at home. 

Composting in New York City not only keeps our city clean and healthy but encourages a long-term resilience and self-sufficiency strategy. Organic waste currently reflects a third of our city’s trash, so as we redirect our trash from far away landfills, we simultaneously can use compost to help nourish our local soils and parks or create green energy to power our homes. Equally significant, placing our food scraps in brown bins will help reduce curbside garbage spillage and limit rodent attraction. 

Expanding curbside composting citywide is the next step. Depending on the success of monthly signups, we can achieve those goals and help garner the support of Council Members.