Denali Water Solutions recently secured an $18 million contract renewal with the New York City Department of Sanitation to operate three compost facilities, per city records. The contract includes the 33-acre Staten Island Compost Facility on the former Fresh Kills Landfill as well as two smaller facilities in the Bronx and on Rikers Island.
“Denali is proud to partner with the New York City Department of Sanitation,” Samuel Liebl, Denali’s director of communications, said in an emailed statement. “Together, we have recycled tens of thousands of tons of organic materials into compost that helps sustain New York City’s green spaces and gardens. We look forward to advancing organic waste diversion with the City as DSNY expands its curbside collection programs.”
The Staten Island facility is in the process of updating from an open windrow operation to an aerated static pile system with 16 covered bunkers, nearly halving its turnaround time for compost, per local publication City Limits. Denali declined to say whether those upgrades were complete. The upgraded facility would take in source-separated organics, wood chips, yard waste, grass and straw, according to a project page from contractor Sustainable Generation.
The project plays a key role in New York City's escalating efforts to tackle organic waste. On Saturday, the Zero Waste Act became law, creating a mandatory residential organics collection program administered by DSNY. Collections are scheduled to expand throughout Brooklyn and Queens in October, Staten Island and the Bronx in March 2024, and Manhattan in October 2024. Fines for property owners that don't separate organics begin in April 2025.
The city has also installed compost drop-off bins in various locations across the five boroughs. The Zero Waste Act mandates at least 30 organic waste drop-off sites are maintained by DSNY, with at least three per borough.
Denali offers a range of environmental services, including composting, dewatering and biosolids management. In addition to its organic waste contract, Denali also received a $5 million contract on July 5 for the removal, transportation and land application of Class B biosolids across various locations citywide, per city records.
A previous notice advertised a proposed five-year, $34 million contract with Denali to operate New York City composting facilities in 2018. That RFP was for the same three composting facilities, which were previously operated by WeCare Organics. That company was acquired by Denali in 2016.
The original RFP allowed for two three-year renewals after an initial five-year contract period. This year’s renewal is the first.
