As curbside composting has expanded to all five boroughs of New York City, residents may soon find composting sites elsewhere in their neighborhoods: city parks.
The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation this week that would require a steady increase in the number of parks with composting facilities through July 2028.
The bill, sponsored by Councilmember Gale Brewer, follows the city’s final expansion of curbside composting, which took effect on Oct. 6 in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx, following earlier rollouts in Brooklyn and Queens.
Organic waste, such as food waste and yard waste, is a major source of methane emissions when left to rot in landfills. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and a major contributor to global warming in the short term. Channeling that waste into fertilizer has the double effect of limiting emissions while fostering vegetation that converts carbon dioxide to oxygen.
“It will hopefully reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfills, improve soil health, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, create green jobs in each borough as staff will be needed to operate the composting sites,” Brewer said before the Council vote on the bill Wednesday.
The bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to set up composting sites in at least two parks per borough by July 2026, according to the bill language. That minimum would increase to three parks per borough the following year — and ultimately increase to five parks per borough by July 2028.
“I think that, as we are trying in this world to have a cleaner, safer, healthier city and planet, it will make a big difference,” Brewer said.
The Council has made composting a priority in recent years, passing legislation last year that made participation in the city’s curbside composting program mandatory as of this fall. The city won’t start enforcement until 2025 to allow building owners to adjust to the new requirements.
Brewer said she hopes her legislation will build on existing composting sites at Riverside Park, which unveiled its facilities to the public last year. It will also require annual reporting on the composting sites, including operational costs, waste management totals and the number of staffers at each facility.
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