Mandatory Residential Compostable Waste Collection Launches Citywide
As part of New York City’s environmental “Zero Waste” and “war on rats” efforts, citywide residential buildings will be required to separate compostable food, food-soiled paper, and garden scraps from their trash beginning Sunday, October 6, 2024. The mandatory program is part of the multi-bill legislation passed by the city council on June 8th, 2023, and is intended to divert organic waste from landfills, where a “particularly potent greenhouse gas called methane” is produced. Brooklyn and Queens were the first boroughs to see the rollout of the residential mandate, with the program launching in the remaining three boroughs on Sunday, October 6. New York City will join San Francisco and Seattle which began mandating organic waste separation about 15 years ago, while on a broader scale, California has a statewide mandate in place. Compost pickup by the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will be on the same day as the building’s recycling pickup and most of the waste will go to a sanitation facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn “where large metal ‘digester eggs’” convert the waste into renewable fuel (biogas) that goes back into the grid to power homes. There will be a grace period up to April 1, 2025, during which time the DSNY will send written warnings, before the city begins issuing fines to property owners of buildings that do not comply. Fines for the first offense will be $25 for homes and buildings with up to eight units, climbing to $50 for the second offense and then $100 for the third and all future offenses. Larger buildings with nine units or more will initially be fined $100, reaching $300 by the third and future offenses. The success of the program will depend upon enforcement by the city, keeping in mind that about 80% of the over 3 million tons of waste collected by the DSNY is sent to landfills, and roughly a third of the waste collected is made up of food scraps, making the city’s landfills the “third leading source of emissions after buildings and transportation. On a related note, although commercial building waste is not regulated by the city, it should be kept in mind that the separation of compostable waste could significantly reduce the cost paid to private haulers since commercial buildings typically pay by the pound for this type of waste disposal and food waste accounts for the heavier portion of that weight.
Source: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/mandatory-composting-nyc-what-know
NYC 311: https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02030