ITHACA, NY (607NewsNow) – A curbside food scraps pickup pilot program from Tompkins County Recycling and Materials Management (TCRMM) is underway in the City of Ithaca.

In April, the pilot period began in parts of Ithaca’s North and Southside neighborhoods.

Primarily funded by a DEC grant, the program was offered to 930 eligible one to three-family households in the target area. According to TCRMM Waste Reduction and Recycling Coordinator Jeremy Betterley, their participation goal is about 38%. As of late April, they were already halfway to their goal.

Officials say a county employee is collecting a little more than half a ton each week. Food scraps, which account for 20% of the county’s waste stream, are picked up and brought to the Recycling and Solid Waste Center, then sent for processing at Cayuga Compost.

With an opportunity to save money on everyday waste costs, Betterley says there’s been plenty of interest outside of the pilot area.

TCRMM Director Leo Riley, who says the county’s curbside recycling collection began the same way years ago, praised his team for the program rollout.

“Staff has done a wonderful job planning and implementing this grant,” said Riley. “Food scraps is probably the biggest opportunity right now for waste diversion. Through the data we’re collecting, we’re going to show that residents want it.”

TCRMM aims to demonstrate the program’s viability to the local village Department of Public Works and contracted haulers in hopes that they’ll continue the program at the end of the pilot period.

“We’ll certainly be on a mission to coordinate continuing [this] service in some fashion, if not just expanding it,” added Riley. “The opportunity is there. I really hope that there’s municipalities within Tompkins County that this will fit nicely into.”

The pilot period runs through March 2027.