Organics Recycling Portal
Welcome to the Empire State Development (ESD) Organics Recycling Portal, which lists many resources to help you divert organics into value added products. Use the links to network, find information, or locate composters or other businesses that recycle organics. Review the case studies to learn how businesses, institutions, and government are involved in organics diversion.
Network
Technical Information and Resources
Financial Assistance
Profiles and Case Studies
General Links
Network
NYS Compost Facilities Map
NYS
Recycling Markets Database
Nationwide Compost
Facilities Map
Food rescue
Food
and organics diversion message board for NY and NJ -
news & discussions about organics diversion in NY & NJ
Technical Information and
Resources
Environmental
requirements for composting facilities
Permitted
compost facilities
Composting information,
guides, and research
Manure
treatment and management technologies, including anaerobic
digestion and composting
Financial Assistance
Empire State Development ‘s (ESD) Environmental Investment
Program (EIP) -
funding can be used for composting and other value added
organics recycling applications
Information about other alternative small business financing programs
Cayuga
Compost (Ithaca) started as a project for
Cayuga Nature Center, Inc. (CNC). From 1996-2006 CNC used
food waste from area restaurants and supermarkets, animal
manure and wood chips to create a successful composting
operation. P&S Excavating purchased the business in 2006
and Cayuga Compost has expanded its collections to include
food waste from other sources. About 1,500 tons of
source separated organic waste is diverted each year along
with yard and farm waste to make 3,500 cubic yards of
compost per year.
Cornell University has cut about 50% of its
waste to the landfill, thanks to composting. Each year about
850 tons of food scraps and biodegradable packaging and
utensils, 3,300 tons of animal manure and bedding, and 300
tons of plant materials and soil from green houses are
composted. Student coordinators raise diners’ awareness of
separating waste. The Cornell composting site in
Ithaca produces about 4,000 cubic yards of compost each year
that is used on campus and sold to commercial customers.
Island Harvest (Long Island) serves as the
bridge between those who have surplus food and those who
need it. Volunteers and staff “rescue,” or collect,
good surplus food from over 800 local restaurants, caterers,
farms, and other food-related businesses; and distribute it
to a network of close to 570 soup kitchens, food pantries,
and other places where those in need can access it.
Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency
(OCRRA) has been pilot testing the feasibility of composting
food waste since 2007, and now is developing an innovative,
13 acre food waste composting facility. Over
10,000 tons per year of institutional and commercial food
waste will be processed, with a goal of generating up to
30,000 cubic yards compost per year of by 2015.
Environmental Investment Program (EIP) Organics Projects for project summaries of EIP-funded organics projects.
General Links
BioCycle
Composting News
Cornell Waste
Management Institute
Empire State Development
Federation of New York
Solid Waste Associations
Food Bank
Association of NYS
NYS Department of
Agriculture and Markets
NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation
NYS Energy Research and
Development Authority
Northeast Recycling Council
US Composting
Council
US Environmental Protection
Agency
Contact Information
To offer additional links or case studies to this
portal, please
email ESD’s Environmental Services
Unit.
