Urban gardening and composting are growing trends in big cities around the world. New York City, whose 600-plus community gardens represent the nation’s largest concentration, shows how it’s done: More and more residents are gathering their kitchen waste to help create organic soil-enriching compost. And GORE® Cover technology plays an essential part in the process.

The NYC Compost Project, hosted by Big Reuse, is part of a community-scale composting network that works to rebuild soils by providing New Yorkers with the knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to produce and use compost locally. In 2012, the non-profit organization chose GORE® Cover technology for its community compost site located under the Queensboro bridge. 

GORE® Cover

The GORE® Cover system helps control the emission of odors and greenhouse gases. As a physical barrier, it is secured over compost piles. And as waste decomposes, a fine film of condensation develops on the inside of the cover. Odors and other gaseous substances dissolve within this film and drop back into the pile, where bacteria continue to break them down. 

Gore’s technology also speeds up the composting process. With the aid of an in-floor aeration system, the product maintains a moist and oxygen-rich environment where microbes thrive and quickly decompose waste into fertilizer. It allows the waste to convert into compost in just eight weeks. By comparison, this process could take more than a year in a typical backyard compost pile.

In New York City, the amount of food scraps brought to local drop-off sites has doubled over the past few years. A recently ordered second GORE® Cover will take care of additional tons of waste, creating even more organic compost for New York City residents.

Interested in learning more about the GORE® Cover technology?