Curbside Composting Expands Citywide

New York City’s curbside composting program, which has been a longtime priority for the League, is now available in all five boroughs, with service having started for ALL Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island residents beginning on October 6.

How do you compost and what items are eligible? It’s pretty straightforward. Yard waste, food scraps and food-soiled paper can be placed in any compost-labeled bin (55 gallons or less) with a secure lid or in your DSNY brown bin. 

(Do not compost diapers, personal hygiene products, animal waste, wrappers, non-paper packaging, and foam products. And don’t compost otherwise recyclable materials.) 

The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will pick up composting year-round on your recycling day.

You can order bins, decals, tip sheets, and building signage here.

Organic waste is either processed at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, or — as is the case with Staten Island — it will be transported to a DSNY compost facility located on part of the former Freshkills Landfill.

Yard waste, food scraps, and food-soiled paper constitute a staggering 34% of all residential waste in New York City and reducing waste sent to landfills is a vital part of New York City’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. 

When organic waste ends up in landfills, it decomposes and produces methane gas, a greenhouse gas more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. This gas further pollutes the air in low-income communities and communities of color, where landfills have historically been situated due to environmental racism.

But the benefits of composting go beyond waste reduction. It also enriches soil quality, enhances water retention, and creates opportunities for parks, green spaces, urban greening, and job growth in composting and urban greening. On occasion the city will make available for pickup what is often referred to as “black gold” for New Yorkers to use in their home gardens.  

Additional resources:

DSNY will be hosting information sessions on the following dates and times, just follow the links to register:

• Thursday, October 10 at 2:00 PM
• Thursday, October 17 at 4:00 PM (Spanish and Chinese translations available)
• Thursday, October 24 at 6:00 PM
• Thursday, October 31 at 2:00 PM
• Thursday, November 7 at 4:00 PM
• Thursday, November 14 at 6:00 PM (Spanish and Chinese translations available)
• Thursday, November 21 at 2:00 PM
• Thursday, December 12 at 6:00 PM (Spanish and Chinese translations available)