Citywide Mandatory Organics Recycling Program Begins on Oct. 6

In less than two weeks — on Oct. 6 — the humble brown bill will complete its conquest of New York City's five boroughs.

On that date, all residential buildings in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island — including co-ops and condos — will be required to separate food scraps and yard waste from other garbage, place it into a city-issued brown bin (or equivalent), and place it on the curb for weekly recycling pickup. It will be the completion of the largest organics recycling program in the nation, begun in Queens in 2022, expanded to Brooklyn in 2023, and soon to cover the entire city.

While the program is mandatory for all residential buildings, the city is giving property owners a grace period up to April 1, 2025 before it’ll begin issuing fines. “This is basically a way to give people a chance to get used to the correct behavior before we really start cracking down,” Richard Day, the enrollment coordinator for organics outreach with the city’s Department of Sanitation, tells Crain's. Fines will range from $25 to $300, depending on the size of the building and the number of repeat offenses.

The program, which has experienced numerous hiccups over the years, is inspired by the fact that one-third of the city's residential waste is organic matter, and most of it winds up in landfills, where it generates heat-trapping methane into the atmosphere. The collected organic matter will be sent to composting facilities or turned into biogas.

Here are the answers to frequently asked questions about organics recycling:

Bins. Co-op and condo boards can order free brown bins with latching lids from the city here. Any bin with a tight lid and a capacity of 55 gallons or less is acceptable. The bins are placed on the curb with recyclables on the buidling's regular recycling day.

What is recyclabe? Basically, anything that is or was edible is eligible for a brown bin, including coffee grounds, meat and fish bones, expired food, tea bags, egg shells. Also, yard waste and greasy pizza boxes, paper napkins and food containers.

What is NOT recyclable? Animal or human waste, hygienic products, soiled diapers, foam containers.

How do I store organics until pickup day? To minimize odors and the possibility of attracting vermin, many composters put their organic waste in tightly sealed containers, such as a yogurt carton, and place in the refrigerator or freezer until pickup day. Another option is to buy an electric composting device, such as these ones available from Treehugger. Yet another is a garbage disposal under the kitchen sink, such as the InSinkErator, which send kitchen waste into the city's sewer system and have been legal in New York City since 1997.

Day of the DOS insists that the city does not view this program as a potential money-maker; it's about combating climate change. “We're not doing this to try and fine people,” he says. “At the end of the day, our goal is really to just try and divert this material from landfills.”