New York City Expands Pilot Program For Organic Waste Collection
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The New York City Department of Sanitation, along with Glad Products, announced Thursday the expansion of an organics collection pilot program.
As 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported, brown plastic containers designated for organic waste will soon dot the sidewalks in parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
The pilot project to separate left over food, leaf, and yard waste is expanding to 70,000 homes.
Homeowners who choose to take part will collect the organic waste in a brown plastic container and put it out on collection day.
Deputy Sanitation Commissioner Ron Gonen said last year New York City spent $85 million just to send organic waste alone to landfills.
"That organic material can be converted to compost, which is an organic fertilizer that the city can sell. Or it could be converted into clean, natural gas," Gonen said.
The voluntary pilot project will be rolled out in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Glendale, Middle Village, and Maspeth.
Dannel Brant's family in East New York has already begun separating their organic waste and he said the results were surprising.
"How much actual food we throw away after we eat. It was a lot," he said.
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