Dive Brief:

• New York City is planning to expand its organic waste pick-up to more boroughs in April.

• The Department of Sanitation announced the expansion will cover five neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and three in Queens.

• The pilot program automatically enrolls all single-family dwellings and apartment buildings with nine or less residential units; those living in apartments with ten or more units are encouraged to volunteer for the program, and must fill out an inquiry form for consideration.

Dive Insight:

Participating households will be given a kit that includes a kitchen bin and an outdoor receptacle to dispose of the food waste from the kitchen bin as well as yard clippings. Items that are accepted include food waste, paper that came in contact with food, leaves and yard clippings. This brings New York City a step closer to former mayor Bloomberg's proposal to make organics recycling mandatory. Bloomberg was also planning to introduce a law to eliminate commercial food waste from landfills by 2015. The city of New York recently announced a partnership with Waste Management that will convert organics into heat for homes.