Queens Curbside Pickup Program To Take Three-Month Pause

QUEENS — The nation’s largest composting program will pause for three months as yard waste reduces for the winter.

The program in Queens that collects food scraps and yard waste to turn it into compost or renewable energy will halt its services starting late December 2022, according to the city.

The program is set to resume in late March 2023, taking a break during the months “when there is little to no yard waste to be collected,” the city said on its website.

The program became available to all Queens residents on Oct. 3, 2022. The service is voluntary, with no sign-up required, with compost picked up on the same day as recycling.

Out of the 24 million pounds of residential trash and recycling that New Yorkers place on curbs every day, about 8 million pounds is organic waste, Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said when the program was announced in August.