Call or Text Now 
As of April 1, 2025, New Yorkers who fail to separate organic waste—like food scraps and yard waste—from regular trash are subject to fines.
As one of the five boroughs of New York City, Staten Island is directly affected by this new regulation, with curbside collection programs and drop-off sites facilitating compliance and helping address the issue of food waste in Staten Island.
With food making up 18% of all waste in New York State, this initiative supports sustainability and contributes to Staten Island’s green infrastructure—making this law a valuable step toward more responsible waste management.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about recycling in Staten Island, where we’ll discuss how residents and businesses can comply, where your food waste goes, and more.
Key Takeaways
- According to NYC compost rules, all buildings—regardless of size—as well as schools, city agencies, nonprofit institutions, and some commercial New York City businesses must follow the city’s guidelines for properly setting out trash, recycling, and compost.
- To encourage food waste recycling, fines may be issued for setting out waste incorrectly, placing it out at the wrong time or day, using broken bins or allowing waste to spill out, and failing to properly separate and set out compost and recycling.
- The Staten Island Compost Facility accepts food scraps and yard waste from NYC agencies and nonprofits, plus yard waste from commercial landscapers, processing a total of 62.4 million pounds of food waste annually.
- Reducing food waste helps cut methane emissions, produce compost that enhances local green spaces, and deliver cost savings, reputational benefits, and stronger ESG outcomes for businesses.
The New Recycling Rules: Here’s What Changed
As mentioned, all NYC residents are now required to separate food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste from trash.
According to NYC compost rules, all buildings—regardless of size—as well as schools, city agencies, nonprofit institutions, and some commercial New York City businesses must also follow the city’s guidelines for properly setting out trash, recycling, and compost.
While the NYC composting program is available to all NYC residents, it’s important for individuals to understand what materials are accepted and what are not—both to avoid fines and to support food waste recycling in New York.
What to Compost
According to the New York City Department of Sanitation, the following items are accepted in the composting program:
All leaf and yard waste
- All food scraps, including meat, bones, shells, and dairy
- Prepared and cooked foods
- Greasy uncoated paper plates and pizza boxes
- Products certified or labeled compostable
What Not to Compost
The following materials should not be composted:
- Wrappers
- Pet waste
- Medical waste
- Diapers
- Foam
- Personal or hygiene products
- Metal or glass
- Plastic, cartons, clean paper, or cardboard
Fines
To encourage food waste recycling, fines may be issued for setting out waste incorrectly, placing it out at the wrong time or day, using broken bins or allowing waste to spill out, and failing to properly separate and set out compost and recycling.
Originally, these fines started at $25 but could reach up to $300 per violation, depending on building size and number of offenses.
However, city officials and the Sanitation Department decided to pause composting fines until 2026. Mayor Eric Adams stated, “In an effort to facilitate even higher participation, we will conduct additional outreach and education on composting before issuing fines to the most persistent offenders who repeatedly refuse to compost.
For now, buildings with more than 30 units that get more than four warnings from the sanitation department will receive a $100 fine for failing to compost.
What Residents & Businesses Must Do to Comply
Residents and businesses must be aware of the various ways to prevent or minimize food waste to avoid fines and reduce the consequences of organic waste in Staten Island.
That said, here’s what you should know about New York recycling laws:
How Can Residents Comply with the New Staten Island Food Waste Rules
To improve sanitation in Staten Island, New York, a set of requirements has been put in place to help residents compost properly and stay compliant with local guidelines.
Here’s what all residents should know:
- Food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste must be put in a labeled bin with a secure lid or in your DSNY brown bin.
- Bins must be 55 gallons or less with a secure lid and lined with a clear plastic, paper, or compostable bag.
- If using your own bin, you can download and print composting bin signage here.
- Buildings with 4 or more units must provide a designated storage area with clearly labeled compost bins.
- Compost is collected every week on the same day as recycling.
- Set composting out the night before your collection day after 6 PM if using a bin or after 8 PM if putting bags of leaf and yard waste directly on the curb.
- You can stay up to date with your collection day here.
You can learn more about curbside composting here.
How Can Businesses and Multi-Unit Properties Comply with the New Staten Island Food Waste Rules
Since commercial food waste disposal plays a critical role in reducing overall waste, there are also laws for recycling in Staten Island that apply to businesses.
Under Local Law 146 of 2013, certain NYC businesses are required to separate their organic waste. There are minimum thresholds for different types of businesses that determine whether they must comply with composting laws. These laws apply to food service establishments, retail food stores, food preparation locations, catering businesses, temporary public events, arenas and stadiums, food manufacturers, and food wholesalers.
To avoid fines, qualifying businesses should:
- Separate food scraps, food-soiled paper, and certified compostable products.
- Provide labeled containers for the collection of organic waste in all areas where organic waste is handled or set out by employees.
- Post and maintain signs with instructions on identifying and separating organic waste from garbage and recyclables.
- Arrange for organic waste to be transported and/or processed separately from garbage and recycling.
- Register with BIC and post an official decal if hauling their own organic waste.
Check out the full list of commercial organics requirements here.
Where Your Food Waste Goes (and Why It Matters)
Recycling in Staten Island doesn’t end after it’s collected; it must then be transported and treated at a waste management facility. So what should you know about where your food waste goes?
Keep reading to find out.
1. Composting
The Staten Island Compost Facility accepts food scraps and yard waste from NYC agencies and nonprofits, as well as yard waste from commercial landscapers. This Staten Island recycling center—located at 450 West Service Road—is open Monday through Saturday, 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
By expanding its capacity, this facility can now turn food waste into compost by an additional 2,000%. Implementing an aerated static pile system cut the composting process time in half and boosted the facility’s capacity to process food waste from 3 million pounds per year to a total of 62.4 million pounds per year.
Compost from this program is sold to landscapers and also provided for free to community organizations, residents, and NYC Parks. Between January and June, 2.1 million pounds of compost have been given to NYC residents.
2. Anaerobic Digestion
In addition, some inedible organics are sent to anaerobic digestion facilities to generate biogas and contribute to a more sustainable, circular economy.
For instance, one wastewater treatment plant currently injects cleaned and refined gas into the pipelines of the National Grid to serve about 2,500 homes. As this plant processes more food waste through anaerobic digestion, it could generate enough renewable gas to heat 5,200 homes and cut carbon emissions by over 90,000 metric tons annually—the same as taking nearly 19,000 cars off the road.
3. Why It Matters
New York City’s food waste collection and pick up services not only facilitate compliance but also promote environmental sustainability and help businesses and residents reduce landfill dependence.
This drives the many benefits of reducing food waste, such as cutting methane emissions, producing compost to enhance local green spaces, and delivering cost savings, reputational gains, and stronger ESG outcomes for businesses.
Companies like Shapiro also support food waste recycling in Staten Island by creating tailored waste management strategies and streamlining the collection, transportation, and treatment of waste.
How Shapiro Helps Staten Island Businesses and Residents Stay Compliant
As an experienced food waste company, our team makes compliance easy. We help you navigate commercial composting in NYC by helping you choose the right waste management approach for your business and supporting you through every stage of the process.
From providing end-to-end documentation—including full chain-of-custody records for peace of mind—to ensuring your organics are delivered to the appropriate Staten Island recycling center, we handle every step with transparency and care.
One of the projects we support is the Linden Renewable Energy Project, an urban organic waste anaerobic digester that aims to tackle New Jersey’s growing food waste problem. Our contract currently allows us to supply up to 300 tons of organic waste per day, with the potential to expand this volume if additional feedstock becomes available.
The project aims to assist New York City, Northern New Jersey, and the larger metro area in managing their organic waste streams. In other words, if you require advanced food waste management in Staten Island and are seeking a food waste to energy company, Shapiro is well-positioned to be your trusted partner—offering tailored solutions and deep experience in supporting large-scale anaerobic digestion projects.
Conclusion
Recycling in Staten Island is critical for reducing the environmental, economic, and social consequences of food waste.
With new laws regarding food recycling in Staten Island, businesses must adapt their waste practices to comply, ensuring that organic materials are properly separated, collected, and processed to support environmental sustainability and community health.
While these new rules can be challenging to navigate, the right team can make the process straightforward.
For expert guidance and end-to-end support in sustainable and compliant food waste management in Staten Island, contact us today.
Baily Ramsey, an accomplished marketing specialist, brings a unique blend of anthropological insight and marketing finesse to the digital landscape. Specializing in educational content creation, she creates content for various industries, with a particular interest in environmental initiatives.
