In early 2023, the New York City Department of Sanitation installed approximately 200 new “smart bins” for compost, with the majority of the bins located in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and upper Manhattan.

According to the DSNY, new bins can only be opened by residents who have a key card or a smartphone app, and who sign up to use the bin. This is to ensure that only compostable materials are placed inside, which include food scraps, plant waste, and food-soiled paper.

The NYC Smart Compost Bin program is expanding throughout the city, and residents can use these bins to drop off their compostable waste and lower the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. 

Of the 14 million tons of trash produced in NYC per year, approximately a third of the waste may be compostable, but when shipped to a landfill these materials decompose and emit methane, a damaging greenhouse gas, says nyc.gov.

With the installation of the “smart bins,” rather than having compostable waste being thrown into the landfills, it will instead be used as an renewable source of energy or compost. 

“I think the smart bin could be necessary for most public places because it could help people properly throw away their waste,” said Giselle Nunez, a WJPS freshman. 

Eleni Melissinos, a WJPS freshman, stated, “The smart bin is a good idea for lowering pollution in our environment and filling tons of garbage on the land.” 

“Recycling cans” by ianqui is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.