Follow Brian Clark Howard on Twitter and Google+. In the 19th century, the city had a simple method for dealing with organic rubbish: It enlisted scavenging swine to nose through the gutters for leftovers. Some people also report saving up their kitchen scraps and bringing them to drop-off locations at farmers markets and other locations. The Barna Recycling Brown Bin is used for kitchen and organic waste. Rodriguez said the mandate was part of the city's goal of becoming "zero waste" by 2020, meaning no material would be sent to landfills. Use any style worm bin to do this. And like human stomachs, digesters can get upset. Here, the trash is compacted and prepared for transfer. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Collection. Residents, Non - Residents & Commercial Generators: Yard waste is accepted at the Compost Facility at a cost of $10.00 per cubic yard. According to Recology's website, at Jepson Prairie, the owner-employees mix food waste and yard material into an "industrial sized grinder ... to attain a recipe of physical and chemical characteristics that are ideal for microbial decomposition." The majority of the city’s organics will be sent to private facilities in the region. "It's very exciting and gratifying to see composting finally getting its due in terms of public discussion," said Datz-Romero. To speed things up, see our home composting guide. … Keeping NYC healthy, safe and clean since 1881 Search all NYC.gov websites 311. It might sound like Doc Brown’s harebrained scheme to power his DeLorean time machine in “Back to the Future,” but using leftovers to create energy is now commonplace in Europe. Has the state reconciled its racist past? Robert Buffolino, the general manager at American Recycling Management, one of six companies paid by the city to manage the bulk of the compostables, has seen all manner of inorganic material come through: pencils, water bottles, phones, even a computer. Some people opt to freeze their compost, he said, and the city provides compostable bags to make it easier. Trash goes in black, compost and organic material goes in green, and other recyclables like paper, glass, and metal go in blue. "It's the combination of all the pieces coming together to achieve zero waste," he said. DSNY Info. Buildings with 10 or more units, nonprofits and residences along commercial strips can apply for service. When it is sufficiently broken down, finer material is screened out of the mix. "A lot of wineries in Napa and Sonoma are big buyers of the compost [because] it has [a] high nutrient value, so that's a nice way to close out the loop from what we put in our green bins," said Rodriguez. The Lower East Side Ecology Center, for example, has operated a popular composting program for city residents since 1990. Thanks to national campaigns focused on food waste prevention by nonprofits like ReFED and the Natural Resources Defense Council, people today are increasingly conscious about how their food is grown, and where it ends up. Bloomberg has said he expects the program may become mandatory in the coming years, although that will be up to his successors, since his term is winding down. New in NYC. But wooing the managers of tall buildings hasn’t been as easy. The food waste program is expected to ramp up over the next few years, starting with volunteers, until it reaches full deployment around 2015 or 2016. Quantum is one of several companies looking at the city’s feedstock. Rodriguez added that achieving zero waste requires more than just composting food scraps. Sign up for more inspiring photos, stories, and special offers from National Geographic. A big pile of leaves will decompose, but very slowly. About 40 percent of all of food produced in the United States ends up in the garbage, according to a study by ReFED. Where does trash go after you throw it away? "Do you put a used pizza box in your blue bin or the compost bin?" Employee Services. In the year ahead, the department has earmarked $27.7 million to distribute new bins, educate residents and pick up and transport materials. It is approved for use with certified organic soil. Ideally, the backyard is the best and easiest place to compost - set up a container, learn the basics, and you're set. New York’s residential organics collection program is already the largest in the country: More than a million residents in parts of all five boroughs have curbside service. As they decompose, they release methane, a greenhouse gas. Creating all-new routes just to fetch organics would be expensive and snarl traffic. 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