Organic Waste Recycling Pilot Program To Expand

Ready to sort your orange peels and coffee grinds along with your paper and plastic? According to Community Board 6, the Department of Sanitation’s pilot household organic waste collection will be expanding into more parts of our area this spring.

In areas where it’s been rolled out already, the program so far has allowed residents in single family homes to place food scraps, food soiled paper, and small amounts of yard waste in special bins provided by the city. The organic waste is collected on the same day as other recyclables, composted, and used to fertilize local gardens, parks, and street trees.

You may have seen those brown bins around recently, as neighbors in parts of South Slope and Greenwood Heights and all of Windsor Terrace were the first places in Brooklyn to get the program this past fall.

A map of the area that will be part of the pilot hasn’t been released yet, but DNAinfo, who was the first to report about the news, notes that Park Slope and parts of Gowanus and Sunset Park will be included.

You can hear more about the plans directly from Sanitation representatives when they present info on the pilot program ad the CB6 Environmental Protection Committee meeting on Monday, January 27 at 6:30pm at the 78th Police Precinct, 65 6th Avenue, in the 4th floor court room.

If anyone in the current pilot area has been doing it, we’d love to hear how it’s been going — have you found it easy to get into the habit of setting aside compostable items, have you had any problems with the bins, any issues with rodents or smells, etc.?