Everything You Need to Know to Compost in NYC
The New York City (NYC) Council and Mayor Eric Adams have reached an agreement on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget, reinstating $6.25 million in funding for community composting. This restores a program that was previously cut from the Mayor’s budget in the fall but garnered strong backing from NYC Council members, as well as widespread support from residents, businesses, and nonprofit advocacy groups.
Composting is gaining momentum in NYC, with a citywide curbside program now in place alongside vital community-driven initiatives. These efforts reduce landfill waste, improve soil health, and help create a more sustainable urban ecosystem. But while the city's program makes composting accessible to millions, smaller-scale projects provide localized benefits, education, and community engagement that the large system alone can’t offer.
NYC’s Citywide Curbside Composting
As of 2024, NYC’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) offers year-round curbside composting to all five boroughs. Residents simply separate food scraps and yard waste into brown bins, which are collected weekly on recycling days. The organic material is then processed into compost or renewable energy.
This program is a major win for waste reduction, but it’s not without its challenges. Participation isn’t yet mandatory, and contamination with non-compostable materials remains an issue. Additionally, curbside composting is a one-way system—residents don’t directly see the compost’s impact or use it in their own gardens.
That’s where community composting comes in.
The Value of Small-Scale Composting
While the city-run program is efficient, smaller composting initiatives provide a hands-on, educational approach. These community-run programs:
Teach composting skills: Residents learn firsthand about decomposition, soil health, and sustainable practices.
Provide finished compost locally: Instead of being processed far away, compost stays within neighborhoods, enriching gardens, tree beds, and urban farms.
Foster community involvement: They encourage participation and ownership, strengthening neighborhood ties.
Thankfully, funding for these programs was reinstated in NYC’s FY2025 budget, reversing prior cuts that threatened their existence. Here are four standout community composting efforts making an impact.
Compost collected through NYC’s community composting programs helps enrich the soil in local community gardens, supporting urban agriculture and green spaces across the city.
1. Big Reuse (Queens & Brooklyn)
Big Reuse operates one of the largest community composting hubs, working alongside DSNY to process food scraps and educate New Yorkers. Their site beneath the Queensboro Bridge was once at risk of closure but continues to divert thousands of pounds of waste from landfills. They also distribute compost to community gardens, parks, and street trees.
2. Earth Matter (Governors Island)
Located on Governors Island, Earth Matter is not just a composting site but a hands-on learning center. Their Compost Learning Center & Farm hosts workshops and volunteer days where visitors can experience composting in action. They process food scraps from across the city while raising chickens and worms that aid in decomposition.
3. LES Ecology Center (Manhattan)
One of NYC’s oldest composting organizations, the Lower East Side Ecology Center has been running drop-off sites and composting programs since the 1990s. They provide compost to parks, community gardens, and urban farms while advocating for zero-waste policies citywide.
4. BK Rot (Brooklyn)
BK Rot is NYC’s first bike-powered composting service. They employ local youth to collect food scraps from residents and businesses using bicycles, reducing emissions while supporting green jobs. Their composting site in Bushwick transforms waste into rich soil used in urban agriculture projects.
Why Both Systems Matter
NYC’s curbside composting program is a game-changer, making composting convenient for millions. But community composting initiatives remain essential, providing local solutions, education, and stronger connections between people and their food waste. Together, these efforts create a more resilient, sustainable city—one banana peel at a time.
Ready to start composting? Drop your scraps at a local site, sign up for curbside pickup, or volunteer with a community initiative near you!
(All images sourced online.)