Lehman College got a big boost Thursday to its longstanding composting program.

Lehman College has had a composting program since 1996, taking the leaves that fall from its 37-acre campus and other gardening waste, composting it and giving that compost out to community gardens across the borough.

More recently, it has begun composting food waste. When composted, organic waste becomes a useful product to add nutrients to gardening soil. Upwards of 60 tons of waste is composted every year.

On Thursday, state Sen. Alessaandra Biaggi announced that a $340,000 grant will go toward expanding the program.

"Everybody talks about climate change today, but Lehman College was thinking about this issue and taking steps toward dealing with this issue two decades ago," she said.

The money will pay for a front loader, sifter and windrows, which are large areas to contain compost that will replace the bins and a giant dirt pile currently in place.