Double Composting Milestones: DSNY returns more than 5 million pounds of compost to 10,000 NYC residents in 2026
May 21, 2026
The Department of Sanitation continues to give away bags of finished compost at six sites across the five boroughs
The NYC Department of Sanitation announced two milestones in its compost giveback program: The Department has now given away more than 5 million pounds of finished compost to 10,000 New York City residents this year alone.
"Operating the nation's largest and easiest curbside composting program also means giving back to residents," said DSNY Commissioner Gregory Anderson. "New Yorkers love good compost, and the Department of Sanitation is happy to be turning the food and yard scraps that residents set at the curb into finished compost to nourish parks and gardens."
New York City residents, nonprofit organizations and city agencies can get free, high-quality compost made from the material collected from the city's curbside composting program. DSNY gives away compost to residents at six seasonal compost pick-up sites in the spring and summer months, as well as pop-up community giveback events throughout the city.
The Department's Curbside Composting program serves residents in all five boroughs, making it the largest – and easiest – curbside composting program in the nation. To comply with NYC regulations requiring compostable material to be separated from the trash, residents set out their food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste in a marked bin for collection on their weekly recycling day. Rather than shipping this material hundreds of miles away to break down in landfills and emit methane, the Department of Sanitation puts this material to beneficial use by creating finished compost for gardens or renewable energy.
Residents interested in getting free, finished compost must register for a specific date at nyc.gov/GetCompost. Dates open for registration two weeks before each giveback event.
The seasonal sites, offering residents up to 10 bags of compost, are open April through September and are located at:
- Bronx
570 Zerega Avenue
Wednesdays and Saturdays - Brooklyn
459 N. Henry Street
Wednesdays and Saturdays - Manhattan
2442 1st Avenue
Wednesdays and Saturdays - Queens East
235-69 Hillside Avenue
Saturdays only - Queens West
77-28 19th Avenue
Wednesdays and Saturdays - Staten Island
600 West Service Road
Wednesdays and Saturdays
A list of pop-up events, offering residents up to two bags of compost, is available at nyc.gov/GetCompost.
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. Last year, the Department gave back more than 8 million pounds of compost to residents, nonprofits and community gardens – all made from food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste.
The Department also gives free compost and mulch to NYC agencies and nonprofits for their programs, construction or landscaping projects. This includes NYC community gardens, as well as street care volunteer organizations.
About the New York City Department of Sanitation
The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) keeps New York City clean, safe, and healthy by collecting, recycling, and disposing of waste, cleaning streets, attacking the scourge of illegal dumping, and clearing snow and ice. The Department operates 59 district garages and manages a fleet of more than 2,000 rear-loading collection trucks, 450 mechanical brooms, 705 salt spreaders, and several dozen bike lane operations machines. The Department is aggressively cleaning more parts of the City than ever before, including over 1,000 long-ignored areas spread across every neighborhood. With the highest wintertime uniformed headcount in 20 years, DSNY is more equipped than ever to remove snow and ice from the approximately 19,000 lane-miles of City streets.
Press Release #26-23