Getting FREE Compost in New York City is Now Four-Times as Easy
May 16, 2025
NYC Sanitation Opens 4th Seasonal Compost Giveback Site; New Eastern Queens Site Joins Sites in Western Queens, Brooklyn and on Staten Island
The New York City Department of Sanitation is pleased to host a fourth seasonal compost giveback site for residents looking to add the "black gold" to their gardens. This site joins three other sites open seasonally, as well as a number of "pop-up" events throughout the coming months, and will allow even more residents an easy opportunity to receive finished compost – made from their previously collected food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste.
The new site, on Hillside Avenue, will be open every Saturday from May 17 through September 27. To get their free bags of finished compost, residents must register for a specific date at nyc.gov/GetCompost; dates are open for registration two weeks before each giveback event.
"It's an easy equation. More food scraps and yard waste equals more free compost for residents," said Acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan. "City residents are really getting behind the curbside compost program by separating out and locking up the ‘rat-food' in their compost bins, and doing so in record numbers. We collect the material and turn it in to something useful that we can give back to residents. It's a win-win situation for all."
DSNY expanded Curbside Composting to all five boroughs last October, making it the largest – and easiest – curbside composting program in the nation. Rather than shipping this material hundreds of miles away to break down in landfills and emit methane, the Department of Sanitation is putting it to beneficial use for New York City, creating either finished compost for parks and gardens or renewable energy that heats homes and businesses while reducing the need for fracked gas.
DSNY also operates Wednesday evening and Saturday morning giveback sites in Astoria, Greenpoint and Fresh Kills, as well as community pop-up events throughout the five boroughs. In addition, the Department gives free compost and mulch to NYC agencies and nonprofits for their programs, construction, or landscaping projects. Commercial landscapers and other businesses can purchase compost in bulk.
These bags of finished compost – certified by the US Composting Council Seal of Testing Assurance program – are made from food and yard waste at DSNY's Staten Island Compost Facility. The recently expanded facility has produced about 42 million pounds of finished compost per year over the last several years. After a 2024 expansion, it can now process about 170 million pounds of incoming material per year.