Town of Riverhead Food Scrap Drop-off Program

Thank you for your interest in the Town of Riverhead Food Scrap Drop-Off Program!

Learn more by watching this video about the program and reading the flyers:

Registration is required to participate in the program. 

Why You Should Recycle Food Scraps

Food scraps are one of the largest components of trash sent to landfills and incinerators. The amount of food that is disposed of as trash is equal to throwing out 1 of every 3 bags of groceries purchased. However, food scraps are not trash; they are a resource that can be turned into useful compost.

Recycling food scraps into compost captures their nutrients and energy and returns them to the environment. When food scraps are sent to either a landfill or an incinerator, this resource is lost. When food scraps are sent to an incinerator, they reduce the efficiency of the incinerator because they contain water and therefore don't burn well. When landfilled, food scraps create methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas that traps CO2 and contributes to global warming.

Instead of wasting energy trying to burn food, or creating methane from landfilling it, composting food scraps produces a useful and valuable product that gives back to our nutrient-rich life cycle, resulting in cleaner soil, water, and air.

LI Organics Council logoThis program is run in partnership with the Long Island Organics Council.

A Special Thank You to Darinka Signs!