New York City Unveils Mandatory Composting Plan

What's the story?

• New York City's new composting law will ensure residents separate their food and yard waste for universal curbside collection. Participation will become mandatory in the spring of 2025 for domestic residents. 
• The law could influence other cities to do the same, making waste collection commonplace. In 1989, New York City's bottle and can recycling program sparked a nationwide movement.
• Eric Goldstein, the New York City environment director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said:

"It's probably the most significant change in how New Yorkers dispose of and collect their trash since the adoption of the recycling program in 1989."

• New York City sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch created a slogan for the law: "If you cook it or you grow it, you can throw it." Tisch said:

"I think it's going to become one of the hallmarks of modern cities." 

What are the benefits?

• Composting food and yard waste can reduce methane emissions, a significant source of human-driven climate change.
• The waste will be turned into compost, which can be used as fertilizer, animal feed, or turned into biogas to heat homes through a process called anaerobic digestion.
• Food waste is the most common material landfilled and incinerated in the U.S., comprising 24% of waste sent to landfills.
• The city has also been putting orange compost bins on sidewalks, stating that using them properly will reduce New York's rat problem.

Where is it being rolled out?

• Queens residents have been required to comply since spring. Compost collections start in Brooklyn in October, in the Bronx and Staten Island next spring, and in Manhattan in the fall of 2024. Fines and enforcement will start six months after Manhattan collections begin.
• The city will pick up organic waste from residences at the same time it picks up recyclables.
• Composting is also being rolled out in all the city's public schools.
• Brooklyn residents can request a free brown compost bin through this website, and residents of the remaining boroughs will be able to do so in the future.
• Tisch said:

"We want to make sure that New Yorkers have the opportunity to develop the muscle memory that's required before we move to a punitive system."

What other cities are taking action?

• New York City is hoping to save money on waste disposal. Seattle has had composting laws in place for several years, and "the income generated keeps solid waste bills lower than they would otherwise be," according to city officials.
• Nine states, including California, Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, have already passed mandatory composting laws.
• Denver and Boston offer voluntary curbside composting. Portland, Oregon, is implementing mandatory composting for some businesses.

Should more cities do the same?

-Emma Kansiz

(Photo Credit: Canva)