The days of throwing leftover food and other kitchen scraps into the backyard are over for Pleasantville residents who take advantage of a new opportunity to recycle their scraps.

PleasantvilleRecycles, a sanctioned village committee, launched its food scrap program on Oct. 5. The program allows residents to drop off their scraps at the village’s Department of Public Works (DPW) recycling site on 1 Village Lane every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The scraps are collected once a week by a private carting company and sent to the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency, a commercial composting facility.

“[The benefit] is removing food waste from landfill, or in Pleasantville’s case the incinerator, which doesn’t burn as efficiently,” said Kim Turner, who leads the initiative with her husband, Dan Turner.

Pleasantville’s initiative resembles one in Scarsdale, said Turner, which began in early 2017 and was the first of its kind in Westchester County.

The Town of New Castle started its program in May and Mount Kisco is currently in the process of implementing one.

Backyard composters tend to handle a limited range of food scraps, like fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, and eggshells. Kim Turner said a commercial composting facility can also handle meat, fish, dairy, and bones.

But it’s not just food that can be recycled. Kitchen paper items, such as paper towels, napkins, and coffee filters are accepted.

For those who have never composted and are interested in participating, starter kits can be purchased at Village Hall for $25. The starter kit includes a 2-gallon countertop pail, a 6-gallon wheeled storage/transportation bin, and a roll of 25 compostable bags to line the pail.

However, residents are not required to buy them. They can house their scraps in any container; just not a plastic bag.

According to Turner, the money from the kits would go back to the village. Last spring, village officials allocated fund to cover re-purposing the DPW site to hold the 10 large bins that are used to collect the food scraps and install a water spigot, signage near the site, 300 starter kits, and other materials.

The program has the support of DPW Superintendent Jeffrey A. Econom.

“It’s a great idea anytime we can reduce waste and limit landfill. It’s going to take time for people to get used to, but it’s an amazing program,” he said.

Within the next year, Kim Turner hopes to have an extra day or two where participants can drop off their food scraps at the DPW site. Sometime in the future, she would love to have curbside pickup for scraps, similar to Scarsdale’s program. That way, residents won’t have to travel to a particular site.

“We could get to a point in time where you really aren’t even throwing garbage out. You recycle your papers, your plastic, [and] your food scraps. That would be fantastic,” she said.

For more information about Pleasantville’s food scrap program, visit the website here.