At the last hour, New York City’s executive budget restored $2.8 million to community composting for the financial year 2021. The City’s department of sanitation (DSNY) now has funding to reactivate all of the NYC Compost Project mid-scale, compost educational facilities, provide support to some small compost sites, and reopen some local food scrap drop-off sites throughout all five boroughs.

 

The NYC Compost Project, created in 1993, works to rebuild NYC’s soils by providing New Yorkers with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to produce and use compost locally. Meanwhile, GrowNYC Zero Waste Programs were created by DSNY in 2006, and work to increase participation in the City’s zero waste efforts through weekly collections of food scraps.

 

The various community composting programs that are being restored will be implemented by DSNY’s eight community partners – Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The New York Botanical Garden, Queens Botanical Garden, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden on Staten Island, Big Reuse in Brooklyn, Earth Matter on Governor’s Island, GrowNYC and the LES Ecology Center both in Manhattan.

 

Norwood News asked DSNY if there was a specific community partner dedicated to the Bronx. A City representative said, “All eight of the non-profit community partners will be helping to set up food scrap drop-offs citywide – it’s not related to location.”

 

The NYC Compost Project’s mid-scale, compost educational facilities, such as the Big Reuse Salt Lot in Brooklyn and Earth Matter’s Compost Learning Center on Governor’s Island, will be the first community composting programs to be brought back into operation.

 

Once functional, the compost educational facilities will process food scraps and yard waste from the drop-offs. Additionally, these sites will offer tours, volunteer opportunities and provide finished compost to community gardens and local tree stewards.

 

DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia is pleased that community-managed compost sites will once again receive support from the NYC Compost Project. This support and technical assistance will enable community compost sites to accept and process food waste from the public.

 

“We are thrilled that funding was restored in the adopted budget to support our partners and to offer community-based solutions to our waste crisis,” Garcia said. “It’s been a tough year all around, but this restoration of funding has given us hope that our partners will be able to continue to do their crucial work in the long term.”

 

For more information about drop-off composting in NYC, visit: nyc.gov/dropfoodscraps
To host a food scrap drop-off site, visit: on.nyc.gov/hostadropoff
Check nyc.gov/compostproject for updates about the NYC Compost Project program.