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\n Illustration: Pete Gamlen\n <\/p>\n
After many starts and stops, curbside composting has expanded citywide. Now, separating organic waste from landfill trash is mandatory in every borough. And it\u2019s working \u2014 the city is capturing 5 million pounds of material per week. There are as many ways to compost as there are ways for food to rot, so Strategist writer and veteran composter Erin Schwartz spoke to six composting experts, policymakers, and home cooks for their tips on navigating the beautiful mess.<\/p>\n
\u27bd \u201cIf it was alive before, it can be composted,\u201d says Sandy Nurse, the District 37 councilmember who has been instrumental in shaping the city\u2019s compost policy. That rule applies to food waste like vegetable scraps, meat, and dairy; uncoated paper with food waste on it (paper towels, oily pizza boxes); and yard waste. Don\u2019t compost metal, most plastics, glass, diapers, or pet poop, which can contain parasites and pathogens that could contaminate the rest of the compost.<\/p>\n
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Illustration: Pete Gamlen\n <\/p>\n
\u27bd Look for the brown and orange bins. Most people compost through the city or through one of many independent programs (listed on the NYC Community Compost Network website). You can put compost in your building\u2019s 21-gallon \u201cbrown bin\u201d (the city also offers 13-gallon bins for smaller homes), which goes out to the curb on recycling day, or drop it off at a sidewalk network of orange \u201csmart bins<\/a>\u201d (check the NYC Compost app<\/a> to find one).<\/p>\n \u27bd Or use your own bin. \u201cYou can set out any bin you like between ten and 55 gallons as long as it has a secure lid. Just make it clear it\u2019s the compost bin,\u201d says Department of Sanitation deputy commissioner Joshua Goodman. Label it yourself or print out a decal from the DSNY website.<\/p>\n \u27bd Clear plastic bags can go in city compost. To prevent bugs, Park Slope homeowner Darren Bloch lines his bin with a clear plastic recycling bag and says he hasn\u2019t \u201cseen any pests inside or outside the bin\u201d since. DSNY has a special machine called the Tiger that can sort (clear) plastic bags from organic waste. \u201cIt\u2019s like a gigantic two-story corkscrew,\u201d says Goodman.<\/p>\n Illustration: Pete Gamlen\n <\/p>\n \u27bd Most of the experts I spoke with keep their scraps in the freezer, where bugs cannot spawn and decomposition (thus smell) is paused. The fridge won\u2019t totally halt decomposition, but it will buy you some time.<\/p>\n \u27bd Low on freezer space? Try a bowl with a dishcloth. Countertop bins<\/a> work just fine, but Golde founder Trinity Mouzon Wofford, who cooks multiple times a day, prefers throwing scraps into a large enamel mixing bowl in her kitchen. She covers it with a dish towel to keep out fruit flies, then empties it every night. The bowl allows for more airflow than a traditional bin, which can reduce odors.<\/p>\n \u27bd Add something brown and dry to your bin to cut down on smell. Compost is a mix of nitrogen-rich \u201cgreens\u201d (think banana peels, apple cores, anything that gets juicier as it rots) \u2014 which can stink as they break down \u2014 and carbon-rich \u201cbrowns\u201d (dry leaves, wood shavings, paper). Adding newspaper, sawdust, or wood chips can \u201chelp soak up the water and the juices, which helps deter the smell,\u201d says Anneliese Zausner-Mannes, a program manager at Big Reuse.<\/p>\n \u27bd If you\u2019re rot-averse, consider a food recycler. Machines like the Lomi ($649) and the Mill ($999) grind up food scraps overnight and dehydrate them into an odorless, soil-like blend that can be added to any compost stream. Mouzon Wofford was initially skeptical of these expensive recyclers, but she says the Mill, which she owns, \u201cdoes genuinely make it a lot more manageable to keep food waste from going into the landfill.\u201d<\/p>\n \u27bd Call 311 if your landlord isn\u2019t putting out a compost bin or your compost isn\u2019t being picked up. In the latter case, leave the bin on the curb so the worker investigating the complaint can see it, says Jessica Wang, a project manager at Earth Matter.<\/p>\n \u27bd The city gives away compost soil. There\u2019s \u201cblack gold\u201d at DSNY\u2019s four pickup sites in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens. Register online<\/a> ahead of time, and get there when it opens, because \u201cyou\u2019ve got hard-core gardeners who will be there early,\u201d says Nurse.<\/p>\n Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/073ef4e7ee7f2f10f33e3fb1013a0136f2-Composting-Secondary2-Pete-Gamlen.rsquare.w570.jpg\")
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\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the August 11, 2025, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n