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Parts of North Brooklyn to Get Composting Collection in Spring, DSNY Says

By Serena Dai | February 17, 2015 2:40pm
 Locals living in parts of the Brooklyn Community Board 1 area will soon be able to drop food scraps at the curb as part of the city's organics program.
Locals living in parts of the Brooklyn Community Board 1 area will soon be able to drop food scraps at the curb as part of the city's organics program.
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DNAinfo/Amy Zimmer

WILLIAMSBURG — Composting is coming to north Brooklyn.

Parts of Brooklyn Community Board 1, which encompasses Williamsburg and Greenpoint, will soon be able to drop food scraps and grass trimmings at the curb this spring as part of the city's expanding pilot organics collection program, a Department of Sanitation spokeswoman confirmed.

Details of the program's rollout have yet to be finalized.

The city started the voluntary program two years ago to reduce waste sent to landfills, citing a statistic that more than 30 percent of New York waste is made up of organic materials like food and compostable paper.

Staten Island, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and local schools are already part of the program.

Residents are provided with special bins for the organic waste, which are then picked up by DSNY on recycling days. Organic waste is then converted into compost to fertilize parks and gardens.

The bins are separate from both waste and recycling bins. It's still unclear where the organic waste from the area would be processed.

According to the Sanitation Department, only 17 percent of the composting bins were used in Park Slope on average during the first phase of the pilot program.

Park Slope residents blamed the low participation rate on factors including a lack of communication between the DSNY, landlords and superintendents as well as a fear of attracting maggots and fruit flies.