Food Waste Management
Effective food waste management can reduce carbon emissions, combat food insecurity, and save taxpayer money for local municipalities. Former County Executive George Latimer made food waste management a priority for his administration, launching several innovative programs to help reduce what ends up in the waste-to-energy facility. County Executive Ken Jenkins is continuing and building on these efforts.
Food Recovery
Through the nonprofit Feeding Westchester, the County sponsors a food recovery program that annually saves millions of pounds of food to be redistributed to economically disadvantaged residents. The program saves more than 10 million pounds annually for consumption across the County.
Composting at Home
Home composting is an integral part of Westchester County’s plan to reduce food waste and promote sustainable living. Since 2018, Westchester has provided compost bins and rain barrels at a discounted cost to residents, sold in conjunction with Compost Giveback Days.
Municipal Transportation and Disposal
As of 2025, 27 municipalities in Westchester County have a volunteer food scrap drop-off or curb-side collection program, many of which utilize the Department of Environmental Facilities Residential Food Scrap Transportation and Disposal (RFSTAD) Program which greatly lowers the cost for municipalities to maintain food scrap collection.
CompostED
CompostED is a small-scale food scrap composting demonstration and education site in Valhalla. The site opened in November, 2021 and provides educational opportunities for County residents, students, and municipal officials on the process of composting, its environmental benefits and the ability of local municipalities to incorporate food scraps into existing organic yard waste composting sites. Municipalities in the County have used this as a model for their own operation; White Plains was the first to do so.
Textile Recycling
The County’s Department of Environmental Facilities offers a free curbside textile recycling program which helps reduce the flow of waste into landfills. Some, though not all Westchester municipalities have chosen to participate in the program. As of 2025, the municipalities participating are: the Cities of New Rochelle, White Plains, and Yonkers; the Towns of Cortlandt and Mamaroneck; and the Villages of Ardsley, Briarcliff Manor, Bronxville, Croton-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Irvington, Hastings, Rye Brook, Scarsdale, and Sleepy Hollow. Residents of these municipalities who wish to participate can find more information here: https://environment.westchestergov.com/residents/recycling-guidelines/textiles
Recycle Coach App
Westchester County’s Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) partnered with Recycle Coach to launch a free mobile app to help make recycling and solid waste information more accessible to County residents.
‘Recycle Coach’ connects residents with their municipal collection schedules, shares local disposal and recycling information and supplies educational tools to help make it easier to recycle products. Users can access Recycle Coach from their desktop computers and mobile devices.
For more information, please visit: https://environment.westchestergov.com/recycle-coach-app