General

Composting pilot expanding to portions of Ridge

February 3, 2014 Helen Klein

Image courtesy of DSNY.

Share this:

While wishing that a pilot program to recycle organic waste could be extended throughout Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton, members of Community Board 10 gave a limited plan unveiled by the Department of Sanitation a thumbs-up, while asking that collection occur twice per week, rather than once.

At the boards general January meeting, held at Shore Hill, 9000 Shore Road, members voted overwhelmingly to support the pilot, which was kicked off last year by DOS in a few neighborhoods and is now being expanded. It is projected to start in Bay Ridge by April, 2014, with a citywide roll-out planned for 2015.

The goal of the program is to save the city up to $85 million a year in landfill fees by removing organic waste and processing it, turning it into compost that could be sold to farms, as well as, eventually, extracting methane gas to power Department of Sanitation vehicles, explained Bob HuDock, the Environmental Committee chair.

The current pilot would cover the portion of Bay Ridge south of 74^th Street and west of Seventh Avenue, with small residential buildings (nine units or less) and private homes receiving brown collection containers from DOS to store food scraps, plants, yard waste and paper that has food residue on it until pick-up.

Some board members worried that the program could attract animals to the cans full of food. But, HuDock explained that the containers would close securely, and also that they are meant to be held indoors before pickup.

In addition, as member Steve Harrison noted, the contents of the containers, in reality, Are no different from whats in the garbage now. Its just separated.

Once the food composting program goes citywide, augmenting paper, metal, plastic and glass recycling programs already in effect, the number of items actually sent to landfills will be substantially diminished, HuDock stressed.