Queens is green — composting initiative gains steam as more communities get involved

A sign on the Big Reuse front gate in Long Island City. Eagle photos by Rachel Vick.

By Rachel Vick

Queens might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of fertile soil and rich food waste, but one organization in Long Island City is working to make the borough synonymous with composting. 

Big Reuse sits on a lot under the Queensboro Bridge, across the street from NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses. The lot is bordered by an array of sunflowers on one side and compost piles the size of a truck on the other. It is scattered with tools, like a repurposed feed distributor, used to move and sift through the piles. 

The site is run by dedicated staff and a seasonal volunteer force, and operates in conjunction with the NYC Compost Project and Sanitation Department on a yard owned by the Parks Department.

Over the past seven years, Big Reuse has grown as community participation has increased. 

Food waste collected from 11 drop sites across western Queens in partnership with GrowNYC has increased from 300-500 pounds to 2000-3000 pounds a week over the past few years. 

Organic waste collection diverted more than 1 million pounds of organic waste from landfills in New York City in 2018.

Compost created by Big Reuse is distributed among city parks, street trees and community gardens. 

The organization has worked to promote community engagement, partnering with local communities to conduct food waste education and compost use. They hope to increase on-site programming to further engage people in the process.

Project Coordinator Devin Reitsma said that Big Reuse collects about 1.3 million pounds of organic material a year. Their efforts to reduce the amount of carbon producing food waste, which is among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, that get put into landfills.

Instead, Reitsma said, the organic waste creates a “really powerful product that can transform communities and natural areas.”

Big Reuse Project Coordinator Devin Reitsma stands with a pile of compost that is almost ready for distribution.

The entire process can take up to six months, from food scrap collection through decomposition of the piles, to the sorting and finally to the finished compost product that gets distributed, Reistma said.

The piles are left under special tarps, automatically regulated by a “blower” to maintain temperature, emissions and necessary bacteria. It can take up to six weeks for materials to break down enough to be move forward in the process. Wood chips, sawdust and leaves contribute to the decomposition

A seedling poked out of one of the piles, sprouting green among the woodchips, egg shells and decomposing corn husks. The shoot was a seed that made it through the first phase of the composting process.

Reitsma said he hopes to see the city’s composting initiative grow the way recycling has over the past few decades. The city and its residents must tackle food waste with the same fervor as recycling plastics, glass and paper. 

“I would like to see mandatory organics program — but that doesn’t replace local organics recycling,” Reitsma said.

Programs like Big Reuse are important for supplementing city initiatives, like curbside pickup that exists in most residential neighborhoods.

“It’s really important to have some of this processed locally and returned to the community,” he said. “I think it helps people see this loop and take more ownership over how they deal with their waste and how they interact with natural areas in community.”

Big Reuse composts waste from drop off sites in Jackson Heights, the Vernon-Jackson 7 station, Sunnyside, Steinway, Roosevelt Island, Forest Hills, Broadway N/W Station, Broadway Library, Astoria Library and the 21st St F station.