Resource Recovery

Circular Economy

DEP is advancing New York City’s circular economy by recovering energy and nutrients from NYC’s organic waste, including food scraps and wastewater. A circular economy is a system focused on reusing materials instead of discarding them, with the goal of recovering materials previously seen as waste. At our Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facilty, we process food scraps in our giant mechanical stomachs (digesters) alongside sludge. This biological process produces biosolids, which can be used as fertilizer and biogas, a sustainable energy source.

Diverting Food Scraps from Landfills

food scraps being collected at a location in NYC

Food scraps are collected at various places in New York City.

The scraps are processed at a slurry manufacturing facility.

storage tank for engineered food scraps at our facility

We receive the processed scraps and store them next to our digesters!

Foods scraps that go to landfills decompose and release methane (a potent greenhouse gas). At Newtown Creek WRRF, our giant mechanical stomachs are co-digesting the organic materials in wastewater AND in processed food scraps, allowing us to capture more energy AND reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including methane.

Gas-to-Grid

We partnered with National Grid to convert biogas into clean, renewable heat. This innovative renewable energy project reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves air quality. From April 2023 to April 2024, we produced 145,500 MMBtu of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), which is enough to meet the annual heating requirements of 3,040 homes.

Co-digestion

Through the end of April 2024, we processed approximately 315,000 wet tons of food scraps at Newtown Creek WRRF that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill and emitted harmful greenhouse gases. This process combined with gas-to-grid results in net negative greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that the total emissions avoided is greater than the emissions generated. For more information about the emission reductions of the process visit: Modeling GHG Emissions From Source Separated Organics.

Reporting Metrics*

April 2024 chart of system inputs, outputs, and GHG emission reduction.

DEP processed over 58,000 wet tons of organic material in April 2024, consisting of food scraps and sludge. The gas-to-grid system was operational 92% of the time, which resulted in 91% less flaring compared to April of 2022. By converting food scraps and sludge to RNG, we reduced CO₂e emissions by 2,409 metric tons, equivalent to planting nearly 40,000 trees or not burning 275,000 gallons of gasoline. These emission reductions result from replacing fossil natural gas with RNG and avoiding the methane emissions associated with landfilling food scraps.

*Later this year DEP will begin publishing this information on NYC Open Data.

System Performance

The gas-to-grid system initially came online in April 2023. However, National Grid took the system offline in September 2023 to perform repairs and system adjustments related to common first-year operational issues. From January 2024 to April 2024, the system has been operational 84% of the time. Even when fully operational, the system will occasionally come offline for maintenance and emergency events.