Big Apple gives away 5M pounds of compost produced from city’s recycled table scraps: ‘Black gold’ – AOL

New York’s new symbol could be a rotten apple.

The city’s nastiest table scraps — from old coffee filters to spoiled spinach bunches and greasy boxes — are being recycled back into food and flowers, as residents across the five boroughs have collected some 5 million pounds of decayed waste produced under New York’s controversial composting law.

An estimated 10,000 urban farmers have used the recycled scraps — which they dub “Black Gold” — to nourish their home gardens and grow what they say are “unbelievable” crops.

“This compost produces great vegetables. My fig trees love this stuff. I got four fig trees and they grow so many figs — I can’t keep up. You taste the difference in your fruits and vegetables using this compost. Oh, my word, it’s unbelievable,” said Dominick Rondinelli, 76, who says he takes as many bags of compost as he can grab from the Staten Island Compost Facility’s free giveaways.

“It’s not horse manure. It doesn’t give off an odor. Your neighbors can’t complain, or your wife. I was here last year as well. I take all of the bags they will give me, and what I don’t use, I give to my friends. Who would give someone a gift of a bag of dirt? Only me!”

Of the five boroughs, Queens has returned the majority of the “black gold” crafted by the Department of Sanitation through its intense composting program.

The World’s Borough has passed out more than 1,375,200 pounds of compost between its two collection sites so far this year — making up roughly 28% of the recycled food scraps that the city has passed out for free.

The borough itself collects more than the impressive 1,237,200 pounds of compost that the DSNY has handed over directly to community gardens, schools and other nonprofits throughout the city.

Staten Island is the only other borough that could give Queens compost lovers a run for their money — 1,135,200 pounds of claimed compost have been picked up from the Staten Island Compost Facility so far this year.

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Big Apple gives away 5M pounds of compost produced from city’s recycled table scraps: ‘Black gold’ – AOL