BIG’s W57 tower. (Courtesy Durst Organization)

The Durst Organization is launching a composting pilot program for the 600-unit Helena apartment building on Manhattan’s West 57th Street. The program will start in the next few months and, if successful, will be implemented in Durst’s planned 32-story W57 tower designed by Bjarke Ingels and expected to finish in 2015. This composting scheme, potentially serving 1,350 apartments, will be the largest residential composting project in the New York City.

BIG’s W57 tower. (Courtesy Durst Organization)

Instead of lugging compost to collecting centers throughout the city, compost at Durst’s towers can be tossed out and picked up much like recycling. Tenants will gather their apple cores, eggshells, and other compost-able goods into a biodegradable paper bag and toss them into a communal garbage bin in the building’s garbage room. From there the waste will be picked up three times weekly and schlepped away to Riker’s Island to become fertilizer.