FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2025
Mayor Noble Announces Kingston Organics Program Phase 2
Registration for Residential Curbside Collection Now Open
KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble, the Office of Sustainability, and the Department of Public Works are pleased to announce registration is now open for Kingston Organics Phase 2: Residential Curbside Collection.
Kingston Organics Phase 2 includes voluntary weekly curbside food scraps pick-up, which is expected to begin in spring 2026. Registration is now open for residents of the City of Kingston to receive a free city-issued 5-gallon container, which will be used for curbside food scrap collection, beginning in the spring.
Mayor Noble said, “With this next phase, we continue to advance our commitment to achieving the highest standard of local sustainability efforts. I want to thank the City of Kingston’s Office of Sustainability for their dedication to developing and implementing this program, which will not only benefit our city’s air quality and reduce waste, it will also save money in tipping fees at the landfill. Kingston Organics will help us realize a meaningful reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while saving taxpayer money during a crucial time for both the environment and our pocketbooks.”
The City of Kingston will host two public information meetings on Thursday, November 20, 2025:
November 20, 2025
Virtual Zoom Meeting
12:00–1:00pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85929383001?pwd=AJKyzouaYpMJW66S4DiTN5UybGG4jo.1
Meeting ID: 859 2938 3001
Passcode: MAy0CeA2
November 20, 2025
In-person Public Meeting at City Hall in Council Chambers
420 Broadway
5:00–7:00pm
City of Kingston Sustainability Coordinator Julie Noble said, “We are so excited, after two and a half years of successful food scraps collection with our Kingston Organics drop off sites, to expand to residential curbside collection. This will make the process of source-separating our food scraps so convenient for our residents and will put a huge dent in the amount of waste being sent to the landfill.”
The City of Kingston has received grant funding to purchase two all-electric garbage trucks, which will be used to collect the food scraps, further minimizing the carbon footprint.
Phase 1 of the Kingston Organics program was launched in July 2023 with a free, voluntary food scrap drop-off program with 11 locations across Kingston. To date, 80 tons of food waste have been diverted from the landfill. Drop-off locations will continue to operate, and registration is still open for participation.
Currently, food waste disposed of in the Kingston refuse stream is transported daily to the Seneca Meadows Landfill, a 480-mile, 7.5-hour round trip. Reduction in waste could decrease tipping fees, reduce the number of trips dump trucks take to the landfill, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while saving taxpayers money.
With the Kingston Organics program, food waste is delivered to UCRRA and turned into compost. Compost is a valuable commodity that returns valuable nutrients from scraps and spoiled or unused food into a valuable soil amendment.
The development of the Organics Diversion Plan was funded by a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation through the Climate Smart Communities Grant Program. The City of Kingston also received $538,409 from the New York State’s Climate Smart Communities grant program to continue to implement the Kingston Organics program.
This program is for City of Kingston residents only. Registration for voluntary curbside pick-up, and more information about the Kingston Organics program is available at https://engagekingston.com/kingston-organics.
Questions about the program can be sent to [email protected].