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After a turbulent few years for community composting in New York City, Big Reuse is finding new ground inside Central Park.

The organization, which lost its long-held site under the Queensboro Bridge in 2024 when NYC Parks converted the space to a parking lot, is now partnering with the Central Park Conservancy to run an on-site composting operation within one of the most visited urban parks in the world. The initiative will process thousands of pounds of leaves, weeds, and other horticultural waste generated through the Park’s daily maintenance, with the resulting compost returned directly to Central Park’s soils, gardens, and landscapes.

The timing carries weight. In late 2023, then-Mayor Eric Adams eliminated $7 million in city funding for community composting programs, forcing closures and layoffs across the sector. Advocates and City Council members pushed back, and by mid-2024, $6.25 million was restored through the FY2025 budget with a restructured funding mechanism designed to protect it from future executive-level cuts. That restored investment made this project possible. The initiative is funded through the NYC Council’s FY26 Community Composting Program, with Council Members Gale Brewer, Shaun Abreu, Julie Menin, and Elsie Encarnación among its key supporters.

Big Reuse will use a solar-powered Dungster composting system, a low-maintenance technology requiring no tools or outside power source. The setup reflects the practical, scalable model the organization has refined over more than a decade of community-scale composting work across the five boroughs.

Council Member Gale Brewer, prime sponsor of Local Law 118 of 2024 requiring the Parks Department to establish composting facilities citywide, called the initiative a potential model for parks nationwide.

For Big Reuse, the Central Park partnership is a meaningful rebound and a sign that community composting in New York City is finding solid ground again.