2015 NYC Organics Collection Report

The most important
Residential Pilot
Capture Rate answers the question:
Of all finding the food from scraps, the yard trimmings Over the and past compostable three years, hundreds paper of thousands of New Yorkers have dropped off
that could be recycled, how much is actually being recycled?
organics collection organic material at Greenmarkets, community gardens, and other sites, showing that they
pilot is simple: Quantity are willing of organics to go out collected
Capture Rate =
of their way to divert organics for recycling and beneficial use. This
people are Quantity popular of organics and generated growing waste waste reduction program has built on decades of hard work among
participating. community composters dedicated to education and local sustainability by transforming
organics into “black gold.” Growing participation in food scrap drop off programs confirms
that New Yorkers understand and support composting and food waste reduction.
Participation Rate answers the question: Out of everyone
eligible for the program,
Figure
how many
7: Number
are participating?
of Households Dropping Off Organics at Collection Sites:
Fiscal Year 2012 to 2015
Participation Burgeoning
Rate =
Number of households participating
All households THOUSANDS eligible to participate
OF HOUSEHOLDS
interest in organics
recycling is proven
by the hundreds
of thousands of
people who go
200
Diversion Rate answers the question: How much of everything
we throw out is kept from disposal 150 and put to good use?
out of their way
to drop off food
Diversion scraps Rate at = NYC
Compost Project
and GrowNYC
collection points
throughout the
city.
300
250
Quantity of recycling
100
(organics, paper, metal, glass and plastic collected)
Quantity of all 50waste collected
0
Despite this record of achievement, many New Yorkers in 2013 were uncertain whether the
Per Household Rate City answers as a whole the question: would embrace What is curbside each organics collection. Curbside programs ask for
eligible household's share (on average) of organics recycling?
the participation of everyone, not just people motivated enough to store and transport their
food scraps Quantity to drop-off of organics points. collected
Per Household Rate =
The organics collection pilot program was meant to answer
Number a question of households on many people’s eligible minds. to participate Would New Yorkers really participate?
The answer is yes.
FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15
NYC Compost Project
GrowNYC
Participation Rate
answers the question:
Out of everyone eligible
for the program, how
many are participating?
Participation Rate =
Number of
households participating
All households
eligible to participate
From the start of the Organics Collection pilot program through June 2015, DSNY collected
15,850 tons of organic material: 7,640 through the school program and another 8,210 from
Capture Rate answers
residential
the question:
buildings.
Of all the food scraps,
yard trimmings and compostable
In the paper Residential that could be Pilot recycled, Areas, how People are Participating
much is actually being recycled?
From Westerleigh to Throgs Neck, Bay Ridge to Maspeth, residents of the pilot areas are
separating their Capture food Rate scraps, = compostable paper and yard trimmings and putting them out
in their brown bin. Quantity Figure of8 shows the increasing amount of material collected with each
year of the organics collection collected pilot.
Quantity of organics
The growing generated amount of as organics waste collected reflects participation rates among residents of
the pilot areas. Results of a telephone survey conducted by the Baruch College Survey
20 Local Law 77 Report 2015