Dept. Of Sanitation Will Reduce Organics Pickup In CB6 Neighborhoods

[UPDATED: Tuesday, June 19 at 12:45pm] According to the New York City Department of Sanitation, at the end of Fiscal Year 2017, approximately 10.6 percent of the organic waste produced by residents with access to the curbside program was recycled. The three percent previously reported reflects both those with and without access to the curbside recycling program. Also, all organics collected in the brown bins are being composted or turned into renewable energy.

PARK SLOPE – At the Brooklyn Community Board 6 General Meeting Wednesday evening, a representative of the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) announced a service change to the organics collection schedule.

Starting Monday, July 30, organics will only be picked up once a week, on residents’ designated recycling day, instead of twice a week. Residents in north Park Slope, for example, who currently have their brown organics recycling bins emptied on Tuesdays and Fridays will only have collection on Fridays.

Participants of the organics recycling program place food scraps and yard waste into the city-issued brown collection bins for pickup. The NYC Department of Sanitation collects the food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste and turns it into compost (a natural soil amendment) or renewable energy.

Along with CB6, other Brooklyn Community Boards with curbside organics recycling collection include:

CB1 (Greenpoint, Williamsburg)
CB2 (Boerum Hill, Bridge Plaza, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Farragut, Fort Greene, Fulton Ferry Landing, Vinegar Hill, and Wallabout)
CB7 (Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace)
CB10 (Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Fort Hamilton)
CB11 (Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Mapleton)
CB12 (Borough Park, Kensington, Midwood, Ocean Parkway)
CB13 (Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Gravesend, SeaGate)
CB15 (East Gravesend, Gerritsen Beach, Homecrest, Kings Bay, Kings Highway, Madison, Manhattan Beach, Plumb Beach, Sheepshead Bay)
CB16 (Brownsville, Ocean Hill)

A flyer announcing the change states this will help the DSNY be “more efficient.” The  service reduction comes as DSNY reevaluates its curbside organics recycling program which currently serves 3.5 million residents in 24 community boards across the city. The program was originally planned to expand to all New York City residents by the end of 2018, Gothamist reported.

“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,” said DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia at an NYC Council Meeting last month. “To achieve this, the city is evaluating its current service with the goal of increasing efficiencies and streamlining the program.”

According to the DSNY, in 2017 only “3 percent of the organics waste produced by residents in the program” was being recycled, Gothamist reported. The other 97 percent of the organics waste ends up in landfills with the trash.

When neighbors in Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Sunset Park were asked about the organics recycling program, many told Gothamist that they did not participate in the program or did not understand it, using the brown bins to dispose of other waste products.