2015 NYC Organics Collection Report

School Kitchens and Cafeterias
Kitchen Staff
Students, Teachers, Admin
Custodial Staff
DSNY Collection Staff
Example of a Cafeteria Sorting Station
It takes a lot of coordination to collect organics from schools.
What kind of waste
is generated by
Schools?
Most of the material being
discarded by schools – in
classrooms, cafeterias,
offices and common
areas – is either paper and
cardboard or food waste.
The remaining one-tenth
is metal, glass, plastic and
cartons. Almost nothing
discarded by schools
cannot be recycled or
composted.
DSNY provides many
collections to schools
every week, and tailors its
service based on the type
of material.
service during the school year. Food scraps from the cafeteria were collected by a private
carter who took the material to a regional composting facility. The effort was a success.
Inspired by this “proof of concept”, DSNY began its partnership with DOE to expand
organics recycling and enhance recycling of paper, metal, glass and plastic throughout the
five boroughs.
The school organics recycling program focuses on separating food scraps and food-soiled
paper in school kitchens and cafeterias. DSNY provides 32 or 35-gallon brown organics
bins, posters, and decals to each school based on their student population. Each school is
instructed to set up waste sorting stations in the cafeteria where students are instructed to
separate their recyclables from the refuse.
Like high-rise residential buildings, the successful management of waste and recycling in
schools requires close coordination among the building staff, educators and students and a
strong commitment to success of the program.
DSNY provides outreach support to DOE to manage their waste and maximize recycling,
and trouble-shoots operational issues as they arise. DSNY also funds GrowNYC’s
Recycling Champions program to provide intensive educational support for recycling and
organics diversion in selected schools. As the program has rolled out many other non-profit
and civic organizations have provided hands on outreach and education to support schools
to implement organics collection.
DSNY collects organic material from all participating schools Monday through Friday
evenings, to allow schools to remove the putrescible portion of their waste nightly. In
addition, schools receive four paper collections per week, three metal, glass, plastic and
carton collections, and refuse service twice or three times per week, depending on the
neighborhood.
18 Local Law 77 Report 2015