At the Alliance, We’re Composting “Influencers” 

It’s our 30th anniversary, and we’re self-celebrating. Over the next few months, we’ll be rolling out 30 stories about 30 of our biggest accomplishments, including everything from our daily public safety and sanitation work, to our small business outreach, to how we helped the neighborhood navigate challenges and even tragedies. You’ll be able to find these stories on our website, as well as in our weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. 

Across New York City, you’ll find orange app-operated composting bins that make it easy to dispose of your food scraps and other organic waste sustainably and sanitarily. But did you know that the Alliance was the very first to deploy these bins?

In December 2021, our Operations team partnered with the Department of Sanitation to launch NYC’s first smartphone app-enabled public compost pilot program, installing 10 compost bins throughout the district that could be unlocked for app users. The program was the first in the nation to utilize mobile technology for secured access, designed by emz, making drop-off composting easy and accessible to the public 24/7. The lock technology kept vermin away from the collected organic waste, and the bins were placed strategically within a five-minute walk from 90% of the neighborhood. 

The 18-month pilot program, which concluded in June 2023, was incredibly popular in the neighborhood, and over 2,500 users signed up for the app — keeping over 105,000 pounds of organic waste out of landfills. The average monthly weight of collected compost steadily grew throughout the program, reaching its highest point in June of 2023. According to a user survey, 40 percent of users were first-time composters who had previously been throwing their food waste in the trash, indicating that people are willing to compost if they have an easy and convenient way to do so. 

Once the pilot program concluded as a resounding success, the Department of Sanitation was inspired to deploy its own Smart Composting Bins across the entire city, including 11 right here in Lower Manhattan. Now, all New Yorkers have the opportunity to compost their food waste — thanks in no small part to our organization’s early efforts.