Woodbury gets state grant to expand food scraps recycling site

The Village of Woodbury won $7,668 from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to expand food-scraps recycling, a small grant that could still change how the village handles organics, park operations and gardening.

The money will support enhanced processing for a local food composting site tied to a proposed public park that would include trails and a community garden. Compost made there is expected to help feed that garden, and some could also be set aside for residents to use at home, giving the village a visible reuse loop instead of sending scraps to the landfill.

The award came as the DEC marked New York State Compost Awareness Week, May 3 through May 9, and announced more than $2.1 million in grants for 27 municipalities statewide. The agency said the program is meant to help local governments start or expand municipal food scraps recycling programs, with individual awards reaching as high as $200,000.

For Woodbury, the grant is modest in dollar terms but practical in application. It gives the village a clear, local project that could reduce the volume of food waste headed for disposal, which may help limit hauling and disposal burdens over time. The state did not say the Woodbury award would directly cut resident waste bills, but the project is designed to keep organic material out of the trash stream and turn it into usable compost for the community.

DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said composting can improve soil, prevent erosion, reduce fertilizer use, save water and reduce methane emissions from landfills and combustion facilities. She also said that all New Yorkers can help reduce food waste and landfill burden by separating scraps for composting or home use.

The state said it has now awarded nearly $6 million to municipalities through the composting program since it was created in 2018. It also launched a new Grants Data Portal to track food donation and organics recycling investments, part of a broader push to make local composting projects easier to follow and replicate.

Woodbury already has some groundwork in place. The Town of Woodbury’s Climate Smart Community Task Force has posted composting-related material dating back to 2021, suggesting local interest in organics diversion has been building for years. With this award, the village now has a concrete step that other Orange County municipalities could study: a small grant, a defined site, and a plan to turn food waste into a community asset.