NYC composting organizations secure stop-gap funding

New York City-based community composting organizations Big Reuse, Earth Matter NY and LES Ecology Center have announced new philanthropic funding to support community composting programs affected by the city’s $3 million in budget cuts, which will cut funding for these services Jan. 1, 2024.  

Mill, the company behind the home food-recycling system, along with philanthropic partners, has donated $350,000 to maintain compost processing operations into spring for organizations previously funded by the NYC Compost Project. The funding follows an anonymous donation to GrowNYC’s composting program earlier this month. 

The donation ensures that organics that are collected at GrowNYC Greenmarkets and LES Ecology drop-off sites can be processed and turned into compost and redistributed by Big Reuse and Earth Matter NY and also prevents the loss of about 40 green jobs as a result of the budget cuts.  

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“For decades, communities across the country have looked to New York City as the leading example of community composting in action, with citizens taking responsibility for, seeing the value in and redirecting organics from the waste stream and returning nutrients to the soil as part of a long-term solution to climate change,” says Marisa DeDominicis, executive director of Earth Matter NY. “These local composting efforts are manifesting larger societal changes and benefit our parks and gardens. … We look forward to working with Mill to continue to encourage and support neighbor participation in this critical work.” 

Additional funding is still needed to cover the budget cuts and support outreach, education and engagement programs across the city. Faced with the potential loss of community composting services, more than 47,000 New Yorkers signed a petition in support of the organizations.