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The Department of Sanitation is getting serious about making sure New Yorkers sort their food scraps from their trash. Here’s what to do — and what happens to the material.
A man empties bags of food at a GrowNYC food scrap drop-off location at Union Square Park on Friday, April 22, 2022. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY
Since October, New York City law has required residents to separate food waste and yard trimmings from the trash. But the Department of Sanitation is about to get more serious about that rule. Starting April 1, DSNY will begin issuing fines of up to $300 to property owners who don’t comply.
If you aren’t already tossing your organic scraps and trash into different bins, this is a great time to start before your building might get slapped with a ticket.
“This is something that can save the city a lot of money,” said DSNY spokesperson Joshua Goodman. “It can produce a great beneficial good for the residents of the city and also fights rats.”
Green compost bins at the north end of Union Square Plaza on Friday, January 6, 2023. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY
New Yorkers have a lot of room for improvement in the practice of separating out food scraps from trash.
An analysis by Samantha MacBride, a sustainability professor at Baruch College who formerly worked for DSNY, showed that since the department rolled out curbside composting to all five boroughs in October, residents continued to throw out over 95% of what could be composted.
“The individual actions of many, many people together make a huge impact, and so the more people who can get on board, the better,” said Sam Bews, education manager for GrowNYC, an environmental nonprofit.
To help New Yorkers compost better, we asked THE CITY’s readers for their questions about the system to create this guide with input from waste experts. (And in case you missed them, here are Part One and Part Two of our series on city recycling.)
Jump to …
- What can I compost?
- How much should I stress about stuff like staples and stickers in my compost?
- What can’t I compost?
- Wait, why should I bother doing this?
- Does the material actually go somewhere other than the landfill?
- So, no landfill. Then what happens to all that stuff?
- Compost on Staten Island
- Biogas at Newtown Creek
- How does the food waste get to Newtown Creek?
- How should I separate food scraps inside my home? I’m worried about the stink, space and fruit flies.
- Tell me more about these compost bins! Where do I get them?
- I’m a renter. How do I get my landlord to put a bin in the building?
- When does compost get picked up?
- How will DSNY enforce this law?
- Oops, I threw a salad in the trash by mistake! Will my building be fined?
- What about the public orange bins for composting? Will those still be around?
- How can I get some of that compost created in the city?
- Can I still drop off food scraps and other materials at some community gardens and Greenmarkets?
- How do I learn more or inform my tenants about composting?
What can I compost?
Food scraps, food-soiled paper, yard waste and plant trimmings. This includes fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, fish, bones, candy, coffee grounds, tea bags, processed food (like cereal or Pop-Tarts) and food that’s moldy or rotten.
Other items that can be placed in with the compost include wine corks, scrap wood, pet food, greasy pizza boxes and paper plates, Christmas trees and compostable dishware and cutlery. Reader Mary K. asked specifically about compostable “plastic” dishware, which is fine to throw in a brown bin, but the machines that separate plastic from food waste may not be able to tell if the dishware is made of, say, sugarcane, rather than petroleum-based plastic.
Don’t think that you can only throw grocery items that are labeled “organic” in the compost bin. If your waste comes from living things and can decompose, you can potentially compost it. Think about what grows.
“In our program, anything from the kitchen, anything from the garden — all of it can go in,” Goodman said.
Compost bins in Union Square Park on Friday, April 22, 2022. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY
How much should I stress about stuff like staples and stickers in my compost?
Don’t worry too much about all that stuff.
You do not have to take sticker labels off fruit or yank staples from tea bags before throwing them in the garbage.
Why not? For the same reason, you can put your compostables inside plastic bags when you throw it out: there are industrial machines that separate the plastic and other trash from the food scraps, yard trimmings and food-soiled paper. (More on this later.)
What can’t I compost?
First, the basics: You should not compost items that should be trashed or recycled! If it’s metal, plastic, glass or clean paper — to the recycling bin. Read our guide on what to recycle here. Other items that can’t be recycled or reused should be tossed in the trash.
You also should not compost poop, teeth and menstrual products. (Icky, yes, but read on — it’s important!)
Pet waste is not compostable in New York City, although you can flush unbagged dog poop down the toilet, according to the DSNY. There are a few places around the city — including Martha P. Johnson Dog Park in Brooklyn — that offer special dog poop composting programs.
However, you can compost your hair and your pet’s fur in New York City! Feel free to toss the hair ball from your brush right into the bin.
Our reader Lizabeth G. asked about composting cooking oil. While you can put oily food, plates or napkins in the compost, don’t dump cooking oil or grease in there. Don’t pour it down the drain or toilet, either. Instead, put it into a container and throw it away with the garbage.
Waste Management community relations manager Aycan Kaptaner helps oversee a compost-transfer facility in East Williamsburg, March 20, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Wait, why should I bother doing this?
Well, first of all, it’s the law. Breaking it could result in hundreds of dollars in fines. (More on this later.)
But perhaps more importantly: Diverting material from landfills is good for the environment.
“Composting organic waste helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are released into the air from organic material rotting in landfills, and also reduces the toxic pollutants and leachate that run into the environment where the landfills are located around the country,” Bews said.
Does the material actually go somewhere other than the landfill?
Yes! Food scraps and other material that goes into the brown bins gets diverted from landfills. There is a whole operation to make sure this happens, and THE CITY got a tour of that in action (more on that below).
Some New Yorkers may have seen garbage and food waste go into the same truck and had their suspicions. (We got two questions about this, from Joan C. and Linda R.) But that doesn’t necessarily mean the sanitation workers mix the two.
Sanitation worker Gavin Cleghorn picks up compost from a bin in Astoria, Feb. 15, 2023. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
“You saw them put it in an incredible innovation, the split-body, or dual-bin, truck. From the side, it looks like a regular collection truck,” Goodman said.
If you witness what seems like mixing of the two waste streams, you can get in touch with DSNYto report the incident, and DSNY will look into it. You can also call 311 to report missed collections.
So, no landfill. Then what happens to all that stuff?
OK, this is where the term “composting” hits a wall. Some of New York’s organic waste gets composted — that is, broken down into a nutrient-rich material that can be used to make soil and plants healthier.
But some of it turns into gas that is burned and used for energy. This happened through a process of anaerobic digestion that turns the material into biogas, used like natural gas to power homes and facilities — but no fracking required
DSNY considers both compost and biogas to be beneficial reuse, and it contracts with a few companies to make sure those things happen. Whether your organic waste gets turned into compost or biogas isn’t about what you’re putting into the bin, but where in the city you are.
In general, more than half of the city’s material either goes to Staten Island to become compost, or to Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility to become biogas.
The rest may go to other compost facilities or digesters located within the five boroughs and elsewhere, including Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. It all depends on how much material gets set out. Some of these places haven’t yet touched any of the organics that come from New York City, but there are agreements in place to make sure the capacity exists as people separate out more material. And the companies that handle the food scraps and yard trimmings may rely on those facilities and digestors if, say, Newtown Creek is at capacity.
Compost on Staten Island
About a third of the city’s food scraps and yard trimmings — including from Staten Island, plus parts of The Bronx and Brooklyn — go to the Staten Island Compost Facility to become compost.
When the materials arrive, they go through a machine called the Tiger that separates plastic bags and other contaminants from the material. The material gets whirled through other machines that filter out more contaminants and further purify it. Then the material gets mounded into giant piles. Over time, the piles grow darker in color and give off a sweet, earthy smell. In all, it takes about three to four months for your banana peels, wilted flowers and tree branches to break down and transform into compost.
The Staten Island facility bags its compost on site, which landscapers can purchase and individual New Yorkers can pick up for free. (More on that later.)
Biogas at Newtown Creek
About a fifth of the material put in brown bins and orange bins goes to the Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where giant silver eggs work like a stomach to digest the food waste and sewage into methane. That so-called biogas is used to partly power the facility and partly feeds into National Grid’s gas distribution system to go to homes and businesses of gas customers.
The “digester eggs” of Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenpoint are a high-profile reminder of the city’s environmental impact. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
How does the food waste get to Newtown Creek?
A company called Waste Management operates a facility in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they deal with the food scraps, leaves, branches and all other organic material DSNY brings.
DSNY’s trucks dump the organics in a giant pile in the facility, where a pungent smell wafts through. It would be worse if not for the building’s ventilation and the odor neutralizers pumped throughout (they may smell of cinnamon one week, peppermint the next).
Among the egg shells, orange peels, pizza boxes and dried brown leaves were notebooks, metal juice pouches and Gatorade bottles. The material goes through a four-part process to sort, which Kirk Williams, the facility manager, showed to THE CITY.
First, a machine called an excavator uses metal grappler fingers to separate food scraps from plastic bags and larger pieces of trash. Next, another piece of equipment shreds the organics, using giant hammers that spin over a bucket called a hopper. The materials drop into the hopper and are mixed with liquid.
Then, the material goes through two more rounds of separation, where turbines whirl to remove even smaller contaminants, like shells, bones and pieces of plastic.
Williams said he generally sees “as high as 25% contamination,” with plastics making up the vast majority of the contaminants. What’s separated out goes to landfill.
That process creates a gray smoothie-like material, with the consistency of oatmeal, from the resulting organic waste. As much as 60,000 gallons of that smoothie, which the company calls Engineered BioSlurry, gets piped into tanker trucks that drive to Newtown Creek.
Waste Management sends large yard trimmings — like Christmas trees and tree branches — to a nursery in Long Island to get composted, Williams said.
Compost waste was turned into engineered bio-slurry at an East Williamsburg transfer facility, March 20, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
How should I separate food scraps inside my home? I’m worried about the stink, space and fruit flies.
We got a lot of questions about this, including from Abigail K. and Linda J. Here’s what the experts we spoke with suggest:
You can use a lidded container you already have — like a takeout box, Tupperware or yogurt cup — to store the food scraps in your home before you bring them to the bin. Don’t toss the container into the compost, though!
You can put the scraps in a bag — any kind — and dump them out of the bag and into the bin. Or you can toss the bag filled with scraps into the bin. You can use a plastic bag if you want.
You don’t have to use a special compostable bag, but you can, and it will get composted. A regular paper bag can also get composted! But those can also disintegrate with wet food, so you may want to put the paper bag inside a plastic bag, or keep all that in a reusable bag. Just don’t throw the reusable bag into the bin.
Freezing the scraps makes sure they don’t decompose or stink up your kitchen.
Bews also suggested sprinkling spent coffee grounds over food scraps to reduce the smell.
Tell me more about these compost bins! Where do I get them?
You can use the brown bins sold online at bins.nyc or get any lidded bin that is 55 gallons or smaller. The lid is important to keep the smells at bay and pests away. You cannot put compost out in a regular trash bag; it has to be in a lidded bin.
“When food waste goes out for collection in these proper bins with secured lids, the pest attracting-odors are mitigated, which then reduces rats that are out in your neighborhood,” Bews said.
Make sure the bin is labeled clearly so residents and DSNY know it’s for food scraps and yard waste.
Property owners can write their addresses on the bins to avoid mix-ups with neighbors, and they can chain up the bins to prevent theft on the days where DSNY doesn’t pick up the recycling.
You can toss the food scraps straight into the bins or line the bin with a clear plastic bag, like what you’d put recycling in. No need to use a compostable bag, although you can. Just don’t use opaque white or black bags. Why? They’re harder for the machines that process the material to sort out from the food waste.
I’m a renter. How do I get my landlord to put a bin in the building?
Good question from reader Joey D. Here’s the answer: Owners of buildings with at least four apartments must offer residents a storage area with labeled bins for composting. You can alert your landlord to the law, or you can call 311 to make a complaint.
When does compost get picked up?
DSNY picks up the compost once a week, with recycling. That may change in the future, as compost increases and trash decreases, Goodman said. You can find your collection schedule here.
How will DSNY enforce this law?
Already, DSNY has issued more than 20,000 warnings to property owners across the city for mixing organic waste in with trash or for a property owner of a building with four or more apartments failing to provide bins.
“Starting around when fines begin, April 1, you will be able to call 311, and report a building that’s not composting,” Goodman said. “We are going to be using complaints as a major part of our enforcement.”
Investigators may note if a large apartment building doesn’t have any bins for compost, and they may open bags to search for food scraps mixed with trash.
Fines vary based on the size of the building and the number of offenses. For buildings (or houses) with eight units or less, owners may receive fines between $25 and $100. For buildings with nine or more apartments, fines range from $100 to $300.
Oops, I threw a salad in the trash by mistake! Will my building be fined?
Bottom line, make a good faith effort to participate. That was the takeaway from Stephanie Cardello, vice president of compliance for property management company FirstService Residential New York after attending a DSNY composting seminar.
“They’re not looking to come in and open the bins and go through the composting and make sure that you’ve composted perfectly,” Cardello said. “They wanted to see that there is an effort being made to compost.”
What about the public orange bins for composting? Will those still be around?
You may have seen orange bins on the sidewalk labeled with the word “compost.” There are over 400 of these “smart bins” scattered around the city. They open with the use of an app, which you can download here. And good news: those bins are here to stay!
The same rules of curbside composting apply to these orange bins, and the material that goes in them embarks on the same journey as the material put out curbside.
How can I get some of that compost created in the city?
You can stop by DSNY facilities in Staten Island and Greenpoint, Brooklyn to pick up compost. DSNY holds community giveaway events periodically in other places, too. Check the website for what’s upcoming.
Food scraps were visible in a compost facility at a Staten Island waste transfer facility, Feb. 8, 2023. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Can I still drop off food scraps and other materials at some community gardens and Greenmarkets?
Yes! You can check out this map to see drop-off sites. But note that what those places accept are more limited than what you can put out in a brown bin or orange bin: you can’t bring meat, dairy or bones.
That’s because many of the sites are smaller-scale operations, and they don’t have the industrial equipment (like DSNY does) needed to process and break down materials and separate out plastic.
“Some people feel strongly, if I source separate my organics I want them to turn into compost,”
Christine Datz-Romero, executive director of Lower East Side Ecology Center. “I think these drop-offs at Greenmarkets were really vital in even acquainting people to the idea of composting, and they still play a role.”
Big Reuse, an environmental non-profit organization focused on community-based zero waste initiatives, runs dozens of those sites, many in partnership with community gardens.
“The community gardens will use the material if they can, and if they can’t we will collect it and take it to be composted locally,” said Big Reuse Executive Director Justin Green. “The community composting itself is really the most beneficial route for composting. It keeps it local so it’s the most environmentally friendly way to do it. It’s not being shipped off somewhere else.”
How do I learn more or inform my tenants about composting?
DSNY provides lots of materials, including informational posters, decals, tipsheets and more, to help communicate to building staff and tenants about what they should do. You can tune in to a live or recorded virtual info session about composting, or request DSNY staff come to your building or community to do outreach.
GrowNYC also offers help to buildings with 10 apartments or more by tabling in the lobby, doing walk-throughs of the building and presenting to co-op boards or tenant associations. Fill out this form to request their support.
In addition, Big Reuse is offering to do outreach about curbside compost at community events and in buildings in Brooklyn and Queens with 20 apartments or more. The Lower East Side Ecology Center is also offering support to Manhattan apartment buildings of any size.
For even more — and to engage on other questions around waste and recycling — Bews recommends joining or attending events with your borough’s Solid Waste Advisory Board, a volunteer-run citizens’ group that advises the borough president’s office to help advance New York City’s zero waste goals.
“Those are really helpful if you’re looking for more information about waste reduction or waste in New York City and learning about events in your area,” she said.
Correction: Due to a factual error from the sanitation department, this article previously stated that human and pet hair could not be processed in the city’s compost system. That is not correct; New Yorkers may compost hair and fur.
All well and good, but few NYC apartments are set up for separated compost bags to segregate such materials for days at a time. To expect keeping in a loose plastic bag (from where?) and carting these down to a receiving area at least once a day is not realistic. Performative.
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