Curbside composting is rolling out across all five boroughs this weekend.

Currently, compost pickup is only available for Brooklyn and Queens residents. But starting Sunday, Oct. 6, the program will expand to Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx.


What You Need To Know

  • Curbside composting is expanding to Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx starting Sunday, Oct. 6

  • Currently, composting pickup is only available for Brooklyn and Queens residents

  • All private residences will be required to participate. Compost will be collected on regular recycling days year-round

All private residences will be required to participate, and buildings with more than four units will have to provide a storage area for collection bins. 

Compost will be collected on regular recycling days year-round — and starting next April, the city will fine buildings that don't separate their compost out. 

Compostable material collected through the program will be sold to landscapers, given to home gardeners or converted into energy. City officials said the composting program will help address the city’s rat problems.  

The city says it will pick up “all leaf and yard waste, food scraps and food-soiled paper.” 

“This includes meat, bones, dairy, prepared foods, and greasy uncoated paper plates and pizza boxes,” the Department of Sanitation's website says. 

New Yorkers should not compost trash — like diapers, personal hygiene products, animal waste, wrappers, non-paper packaging and foam products — or recyclable materials, the website adds.

Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who led the effort at City Hall, and Big Reuse executive director Justin Green joined “News All Day” on Friday to discuss the rollout, what can and cannot be composted, and how the initiative helps the environment.