Starting next year, approximately 10 percent of New York City's residential food waste will be turned into compost. Banana peels, coffee grinds, eggshells, orange peels, tea leaves, corncobs, and yes, apple cores, will no longer be taken out with the rest of the trash and headed for a landfill.

Instead, these food scraps will be taken to a composting plant that will handle roughly 100,000 tons of food scraps a year.

The waste will then be used as fertilizer and/or converted into biogas, a gas that is produced by the breakdown of organic materials, which would then be used to generate electricity.

The program is currently set for voluntary use for residential areas and schools. Commercial businesses will likely get on board with the new program once the new legislation for their sector is passed.

See more at: http://highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/big-apple-takes-big-leap-toward-composting-20130919/