We are super excited that Mayor Adams and Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced plans to roll out free, year-round, compost collection services to residents of all five boroughs - the nation’s largest composting program! The program will roll out over the next two years beginning with Queens in March, expanding to Brooklyn in October, and finally reaching the Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan in 2024.
Curbside compost collection means that all NYC residents can divert their leaf and yard waste, food scraps, and food-soiled paper products in a curbside compost collection bin–separate from their trash and recycling. Brown bins will be available from DSNY or opt to use any lidded bin of 55 gallons or less. DSNY will then work with a number of outlets to make sure the materials are composted. 12.7 million pounds of compostable material was diverted by DSNY in the first three months of the fall Queens pilot,.
Big Reuse is a proud partner in this effort. Big Reuse has been working for over a decade to promote composting in New York City in Partnership. We currently have 70 food scrap drop offs in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. We have 2 composting sites that compost over 2 million lbs a compost a year and give the compost away to hundreds of community groups.
With DSNY - we have visited over 25,000 homes in Queens to educate residents about the curbside program. We are launching work with community groups and schools to apply compost and increase education around composting.
Participation in curbside compost collection remains optional, according to Commissioner Tisch. DSNY is discussing creating a citywide mandate requiring the composting of biodegradable materials by residents, similar to the law which currently mandates recycling. City council members Shahana Hanif and Sandy Nurse continue to work on a bill which would mandate universal residential composting. The composting program will also expand to all New York City public schools by next year.