Underneath the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City, hundreds of thousands of pounds of food scraps collected by Queens residents undergo a transformation through a process called composting.
Though New York City has operated the NYC Compost Project since 1993, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has become more aggressive about convincing New Yorkers to compost.
According to Belinda Mager, the director of digital media and communications for DSNY, the city has a “multi-fold strategy” for diverting organics that began with workshops to teach people how to compost in their homes and community gardens.
In 2013, the city began rolling out the curbside collection program and handed out brown bins for food scraps to homeowners and in apartment buildings. Residents can also drop off their food scraps in subways, libraries and public places like Socrates Sculpture Park.
“We have this whole portfolio of initiatives and all of them are trying to meet New Yorkers where they’re at and getting them out of the landfill,” Mager said.
To reach more New Yorkers, the city partners with nonprofits who can help them with their composting initiative. In Queens, one of these organizations is Big Reuse, which began operating in the borough in 2005. In 2017, the organization processed 848,000 pounds of food scraps.
The nonprofit began leasing space underneath the Queensboro Bridge in 2013 and processes the food scraps dropped off at commuter stations and farmers markets. Big Reuse accepts most food scraps except dairy, meat and bones and also takes food soiled products and compostable plastic, according to operations coordinator Erik Hoversten.
For those in the organics collection program, the city accepts dairy, meat, bones and yard waste.
Louise Bruce, the former senior program manager for NYC Organics, compared the act of composting to creating a balanced meal.
“It’s thinking about how can I blend materials together like food waste and yard waste to achieve a perfect carbon and nitrogen blend?” she said.
In Long Island City, the recipe includes food scraps with wood chips delivered from Greenwood Cemetery, leaves delivered seasonally from city parks and wood shavings from local woodworkers, according to Hoversten.
To read the full story, visit http://qns.com/story/2018/01/16/long-island-city-food-scraps-turned-compost-effort-divert-waste-landfills/.