Engaging tenants in food scraps diversion programs for multifamily housing

Expanding food scraps diversion programs to include multifamily buildings is a critical step toward reducing landfill-bound waste and increasing equitable access to composting services. While single-family homes have traditionally been the focus of organics recycling, multifamily buildings represent a substantial opportunity for waste diversion at scale. Ensuring that all residents, regardless of housing type, can participate in diversion efforts strengthens community resilience, supports broader environmental and public health benefits, and advances an inclusive circular economy.

In 2023, the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) convened three experts from across the U.S. who represented food waste diversion programs occurring in Austin, Texas, and New York City. Within the broader context of designing, launching, and maintaining effective diversion programs in multifamily composting initiatives, they shared effective strategies to engage tenants and enable long-term participation for program success. NYSP2I regularly works with communities and housing providers statewide to support food scraps diversion initiatives like these through technical assistance, applied research, and municipal toolkits.

Building on insights from the first blog in this series, which covered foundational design elements, this installment focuses on tenant engagement and participation strategies.

Identify on-site program champions

A consistent theme across successful programs is the presence of a local champion—typically a committed tenant or staff member.

Katy Burgio, senior program manager for waste-related capital projects at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and her team address how waste, including organics, moves through all NYCHA properties. NYCHA is the largest public housing authority in North America, representing over 500,000 residents and 335 housing developments—many of which are campus-style properties comprised of multiple separate buildings (nyc.gov/nycha). Burgio emphasized the value of resident volunteers who take ownership of the program. “We’ve found a lot of success at NYCHA when we have those sorts of local champions,” she said. These individuals can be deeply invested in helping property managers, educating peers, encouraging other residents to participate, and offering feedback that informs program adjustments.

Early engagement from residents helps build momentum—especially when a policy mandates diversion—and resident champions can play a key role in driving that early success. “I think it’s helpful to start things off,” said Elizabeth Nelson, senior planner at Austin Resource Recovery with the City of Austin, Texas, referring to volunteer coordinators.

In fall 2024, the City of Austin’s Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) began requiring food scraps collection from multifamily buildings following a successful six-month pilot managed by Nelson and her team. Insights from the pilot informed the structure of the policy, which has been enacted and now requires all multifamily properties—more than half the households in Austin—to provide composting service. That is a major milestone from an access perspective.

While resident champions are assets, programs without them shouldn’t be discouraged. Nelson noted that while volunteers were helpful during Austin’s pilot, they weren’t essential to its success. In the absence of local champions, programs can still build momentum through slower, phased implementation and by making effective use of other available support.

Provide accessible education and tangible tools

Clear, relatable, and ongoing education is another fundamental theme for managing successful diversion programs. The Austin and New York programs leaned heavily on city-provided resources to support tenant onboarding. Leveraging existing tools and resources available through the city or a hauler can reduce costs and streamline program rollout and even provide a small incentive. Burgio explained how she and her team gave out curbside or countertop containers provided by the Department of Sanitation along with NYCHA’s own educational materials on organics diversion. “Folks always appreciate when there’s a little something given to them.”

In Austin, Nelson’s team distributed educational brochures from the city showing what scraps could be composted along with kitchen countertop caddies and compostable bags. Nelson found that residents responded positively to having a small bin they could keep in their homes—a simple but powerful behavioral cue. “People really like having that little kitchen collector. It gives them something tangible to work with.”

In New York City, NYCHA partnered with Green City Force to produce a video tailored to residents. The video demonstrated how to manage food scraps “in your own home,” helping to demystify the process. “[S]howing how to separate and store food scraps in your own kitchen was really valuable,” Burgio reflected.

Other effective educational strategies include annual resident training; consistent, multilingual signage; clearly labeled containers; clearly defined bin locations; and educational visuals that represent real-life situations.

Anthony Baker and students on a Green Team at Seminary of the Southwest (Southwest) in Austin, Texas made an instructional video that introduces composting, among other waste management processes, to educate students about using composting bins and bags. Baker, a professor at Southwest, spearheaded the institution’s participation in the pilot composting program run by Nelson’s team—for apartment-style on-campus housing. Baker emphasized how important educational materials like video and signage were to help engagement among student residents. Showing relatable visuals was key. “Here I’m showing people how easy it is,” he said, explaining the video. Clear signage informed residents, “this is what we do with this, and this is what we don’t” do. Success in the multi-resident units helped ignite interest in composting to other areas of Southwest’s campus.

Just start, then adjust for the uncertainties

While planning is essential, the best way to refine a program is to dive into hands-on implementation. Austin and New York both launched pilots to assess costs and user behaviors, which yielded valuable data to inform program design. “The pilot helped us understand what a real-world application would look like and what services were already available on the market,” said Nelson.

Issues like bin contamination can arise at any stage of an organics diversion program’s development. Contamination refers to material that winds up in food scraps or compost bins that recyclers cannot accept because it affects the quality of their product. This could include plastic cups, straws, fruit stickers, stretch wrap, or other materials associated with food packaging. In severe cases, contamination that isn’t dealt with can lead to failed food scraps recycling programs. Program operators can work with haulers in advance to define acceptable contamination thresholds, agree on how it will be measured, and establish a feedback loop for program improvements. To learn more about addressing contamination in food scraps collection bins and the corrective actions that can be taken, access NYSP2I’s free troubleshooting guide.

While the issue of contamination can be seen as a challenge for programs, early adopters—those who are the most enthusiastic about composting—tend to produce the least contamination. As programs grow, however, frequency of occurrences may increase, highlighting the need for targeted education and communication. Nelson noted that when contamination did occur, it was likely caused by illegal dumping from non-participants.

To combat these issues, the experts discussed solutions such as placing compost bins beside litter bins, phasing in resident participation to build understanding, and other bin access and monitoring practices. Baker’s team at Southwest approached not only contamination but the diversion program overall from ethical perspectives of cooperation and caring for your community. “It became a way of saying, ‘Hey, take care of your neighbor,’” said Baker.

Key strategies for starting a program

Launching a multifamily food scraps diversion program can seem complex, but many successful efforts have started with a small pilot and a willingness to learn along the way. With thoughtful planning and a flexible approach, these programs can be both effective and sustainable. They also can make organics diversion accessible in densely populated residential settings like cities and college campuses. For anyone looking to start a food scraps program in a multifamily residential building and fully engage tenants, key strategies include:

• Engage local champions. Residents who are passionate can drive participation from within the community.
• Use tangible tools and relatable messaging. Simple items like kitchen caddies can boost daily participation; clear signage supports understanding.
• Plan for contamination. Establish protocols with haulers and address occurrences early on.
• Start with what you have. Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Early experience will inform better decisions.

These takeaways are derived from “Food Scrap Diversion for Multifamily Housing,” a live webinar hosted by NYSP2I on September 26, 2023. Click here to access the webinar recording.

Read the first installment of webinar takeaways, covering foundational aspects of food scraps diversion programs for multifamily buildings.

For communities looking to design and implement their own pilot programs to reduce food waste, NYSP2I offers a three-part Municipal Food Waste toolkit that provides guidance on defining goals, determining scope, and scaling programs.

About the experts and their programs

New York City, NY

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) houses about 1 in 17 New York residents, serving over 500,00 people across more than 2,400 buildings. Katy Burgio is the senior program manager for waste-related capital projects at NYCHA. She leads a team focused on implementing waste infrastructure and program strategies and goals under the authority's Sustainability Agenda (2021) and the NYCHA 2.0 Waste Management Plan (2019). Two goals included in the waste management plan relate to increasing the convenience of correct disposal and eliminating food scraps from landfilled trash.

City of Austin, TX

The city of Austin, TX has been working toward minimizing waste to landfills for the last few decades with commitments, ordinances, and master plans. Austin Resource Recovery is the city's department responsible for services such as composting, trash, recycling, and outreach and education, where Elizabeth Nelson serves as a senior planner. She has worked with the Strategic Initiatives division since 2016 and works on zero waste and circular economy policy development and long-range planning. She has managed incentive programs and worked on the implementation of waste diversion ordinances impacting the business and construction and demolition sectors. For residences with four units or fewer, the city provides trash, recycling, and compost service; multifamily units greater than four must contract privately. As of 2018, only 2% of multifamily properties had compost services set up. In 2019, the city launched a pilot program in multifamily properties to accelerate food scraps collection with the goal of updating the city's Universal Recycling Ordinance based on pilot findings.

The Seminary of the Southwest (Southwest) is located in Austin, TX, and was one of eight locations to participate in the city's multifamily housing pilot. Dr. Anthony D. Baker, the Clinton S. Quin professor of systematic theology at Southwest, established Southwest’s “Green Team,” a sustainability-focused group on campus. He and the Green Team spearheaded participation in the city’s food scrap diversion pilot program for on-campus multifamily buildings.

About the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute

The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) is a partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Rochester Institute of Technology and the university’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Binghamton University, Clarkson University, Cornell University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. NYSP2I also works with the state’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership to help disseminate data and strategy.

NYSP2I’s goal is to make the state more sustainable for workers, the public, the environment, and the economy through pollution prevention. Pollution prevention is reducing or eliminating waste at the source by modifying production processes, promoting the use of non-toxic or less-toxic substances, implementing conservation techniques, and reusing materials rather than putting them into the waste stream.

Funding was provided from the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The opinions, results, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of Rochester Institute of Technology and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of New York State.