BUFFALO –The Broadway Market is one of the five locations citywide where City residents can drop off their food scraps, as part of Mayor Byron W. Brown’s latest recycling initiative, called Scrap It, a residential Food Scrap Drop Off program. After getting positive feedback from residents and organizations during the pilot phase of this project, the program was expanded to four months, beginning in June of 2019 and running through September at five locations citywide: South Buffalo Farmers Market, Massachusetts Avenue Project Farmstand, North Buffalo Farmers Market, Broadway Market and the Downtown Country Farmers Market. Since the start of the expanded program, over 500 City residents have participated.
“Since the program began in June, I’m pleased to report that over 1,400 pounds of food waste has been collected and composted,” said Mayor Brown. “This is a safe, smart, and free way of disposing of food scraps that will be turned into valuable compost. I thank residents for recycling their food waste and encourage them to continue to support our 34andMore Buffalo Recycles program.”
Since June 2019, 530 people have participated in the expanded City of Buffalo Food Scrap Drop Off Program.
Susan Attridge, Director of Reuse and Recycling, stated, “We are so happy that people are embracing the Food Waste Scrap Drop Off program. We have staff at all five weekly events to educate residents on the importance of reducing food waste as well as providing a drop off for food waste composting.”
Buffalo has a goal to recycle 34% of its waste over the next few years through composting, reuse, and recycling. Diverting food waste from the municipal solid waste stream is one of the most effective ways to achieve this goal because a large amount of household waste consists of food scraps. Rather than going down the disposal or being sent to a landfill, this food waste can be converted to compost. The creation of compost, a natural healthy fertilizer, can be useful for our community parks, gardens, and trees, instead of being sent to landfill.
City residents can drop off their food waste from June through September at the following locations:
Location | Address | Farmers Market Day |
South Buffalo Farmers Market | Cazenovia Park @Casino | Sundays 9AM - 1PM |
Massachusetts Avenue Project Farmstand | 387 Massachusetts Avenue | Wednesday 4PM - 6PM |
North Buffalo Farmers Market | 780 Parkside Ave | Thursday 4:PM - 7PM |
Broadway Market | 999 Broadway | Friday 9AM - 11:AM |
Downtown Country Farmers Market | Main Street | Tuesday 10:AM - 12:PM |
ACCEPTABLE MATERIAL:
Vegetable & fruit scraps, coffee grounds and coffee filters, tea bags, nuts & egg shells
UNACCEPTED MATERIAL:
Meat, chicken, fish, greasy & oily food, dairy, animal waste, litter or bedding, coal or charcoal, coconuts, diseased or insect-infested houseplants, or biodegradable /compostable plastics
Residents can collect and place food scraps within any reusable plastic containers such as large yogurt bins, Tupperware containers, commercially available compost pails, milk cartons, or in paper or plastic bags. The City is giving out reuseable food scrap containers as well (as long as supplies last).
For odor reduction, store items within freezer or refrigerator, and add a layer of shredded newspaper to the bottom of the container. All food scraps collected will be transported by the Natural Upcycling to the Buffalo River Compost.
All items will be disposed or recycled in a responsible and environmentally safe manner. For more information, please call 851-5014 or visit www.buffalorecycles.org.