Smart Compost Bins Rolled Out In Washington Heights And Inwood

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — If you've recently noticed large locked orange trash bins in Washington Heights and Inwood, they do indeed have a special purpose.

The two uptown neighborhoods, along with Harlem and the South Bronx, were recently part of a rollout for the city's Smart Compost program.

The bins can only be unlocked through the NYC Compost app. The receptacles are meant for vegetables, fruit, dairy, meat, bones, prepared food, flowers, plants, and more.

Here the Washington Heights and Inwood locations.

• Northeast corner of Amsterdam and West 155th Street
• Southwest corner of Amsterdam and West 160th Street
• Northwest corner of Amsterdam and West 165th Street
• Southwest corner of Audubon and West 169th Street
• Northeast corner of Fort Washington Avenue and West 174th Street
• Northeast corner of Wadsworth Avenue and West 182nd Street
• Northwest corner of Cabrini Boulevard and West 187th Street
• Northwest corner of Audubon Avenue and West 192nd Street
• Southeast corner of Sickles Street and Nagle Avenue
• Southeast corner of Broadway and Academy Street
• Southwest corner of West 212th Street and 10th Avenue

The orange Smart Bin were first rolled out in December 2021 in Astoria, but it took awhile for the program to make its way to Upper Manhattan.

"We are excited to see how these new bins perform, and urge everyone who lives or works near one to give them a try,” said Edward Grayson, who was commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation at the time.

This announcement was added to in August, when Mayor Eric Adams said 250 of the Smart Compost bins would be installed throughout the city.

The food scraps put in the bins get processed at local "community scale compost sites" and the subsequent compost gets used to improve green spaces across the city.

The NYC Compost App can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS.