NYC’s Organics Collection Program Only Recycles About 3% of Organics Collected

The de Blasio administration recently halted the expansion of its organics collection program, which is currently available to 3.5 million New York City residents in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx. The temporary halt is due to the fact that the city needs a more robust organic waste diversion program in order to meet its zero waste goals.

While the program is an offering many residents want, it actually isn’t making much of a difference with the way it’s currently set up, according to 2017 numbers released by the New York City Department of Sanitation. In fact, only about 3 percent of the organics collected get recycled, while the remaining 97 percent remain unsorted and often end up in landfills.

Gothamist has more information:

Faced with numerous hurdles, NYC's Department of Sanitation has shelved expansion of its curbside organics recycling program, which currently serves 3.5 million residents. The program was originally scheduled to serve all New Yorkers by the end of 2018. Kathryn Garcia, the DSNY Commissioner, announced the news in a NYC Council Meeting on May 18.

"We believe that for the program to be successful over the long term we must ensure New Yorkers are getting the very best service when curbside organics collection reaches their neighborhood," Garcia said. "To achieve this, the city is evaluating its current service with the goal of increasing efficiencies and streamlining the program."

Garcia also explained that this will not affect any of the residents in the 24 community boards currently served with curbside organics recycling and collection.

Read the full story here.