Almost a third of NYC’s waste stream is organic matter. When sent to landfills, organics decompose and emit methane. Turning scraps into compost reduces these emissions and returns nutrients to the soil, completing the beneficial growth cycle.
Almost a third of NYC’s waste stream is organic matter. When sent to landfills, organics decompose and emit methane. Turning scraps into compost reduces these emissions and returns nutrients to the soil, completing the beneficial growth cycle.
New Yorkers generate around 3.5 million tons of waste each year, with organic matter—food scraps and yard waste—making up almost a third of it. When sent to landfills, the organic waste decomposes and emits methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.
Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil and help plants to grow. While anything that grows decomposes eventually, composting hastens this biological process by cultivating an ideal environment for bacteria, fungi, and other decomposing organisms (such as worms, sowbugs, and nematodes) to thrive and do their jobs. Fungi, earthworms, and other detritivores ingest and break down the organic material, while aerobic bacteria and fungi manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide, and ammonium. Compost can be used to improve soil health, lessen erosion, and mitigate drought risk. People across NYC have created communal composting locations where residents can drop off their food scraps and volunteers can turn this valuable resource into nutrient-rich soil. This, along with city and regional scale composting efforts, helps cut the impact of greenhouse gases from decaying food scraps in landfills.