Kingston Wins $538,409 State Grant For Food Scraps Compost Program

KINGSTON, NY – The City of Kingston has received $538,409 from New York State to expand the Kingston Organics program to reduce solid waste and utilize food scraps for composting.

It's part of more than $7.3 million in grants awarded to municipalities across the state through the Climate Smart Communities grant program for projects that advance greenhouse emission reductions, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.

“We are excited to receive these funds and thank Governor Hochul and the Climate Smart Communities program for seeing the importance of reducing greenhouse emissions on the state and local level,” Mayor Steven T. Noble said in a news release. “Our team will continue to build an Organics program that best suits the needs of Kingston residents who wish to reduce their solid waste through composting.”

With the funding, the city’s Sustainability team, along with the Department of Public Works, will expand the program, which has been highly effective so far. Launched in July 2023, the Kingston Organics Diversion Program has significantly reduced the amount of food waste sent to the landfill, city officials said.

As of July 22, a total of 1,035 participants, representing 473 households, have participated. The food waste is picked up at 11 locations in the city by the Department of Public Works and delivered to the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency, where it is processed into compost and sold locally.

It has diverted 33.65 tons of food waste from the Seneca Meadows Landfill, city officials said.

The program is not only saving the city money — it costs $20 per ton to dispose of the food scraps, compared with $115 per ton to dispose of solid waste — but also reducing carbon emissions resulting from fewer truck trips to the Seneca landfill, which is located 235 miles away. And the program is completely sustainable, transforming a waste product into compost, which, among other beneficial uses, is used by gardeners to add nutriments to the soil.

With the grant, state officials said, Kingston will implement a five-pronged organics diversion program to reach all constituents receiving city waste management services through:

1. a curbside food waste collection program
2. neighborhood food waste drop-off locations
3. promotion of residential backyard composting
4. education regarding onsite composting technologies for small commercial food-waste-producing businesses
5. a collection program for municipal buildings, recreation facilities, and events

More about the Kingston Organics program, including free registration for City of Kingston residents, can be found here.

Established in 2016, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Climate Smart Communities grant program supports municipalities seeking to implement climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation projects, as well as undertake certain actions toward becoming certified Climate Smart Communities.

The grant program for municipal climate action supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires New York to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Since its inception, DEC has awarded more than $69 million to municipalities in support of local climate mitigation and adaptation projects.

More information about the grant program can be found here.