Most of the city residents We should start breaking up Compostable food and garden scraps were removed from garbage in all five boroughs on October 6, but if recycling track records are any indication, it could be an uphill battle. .
New composting measures passed by the City Council last year are being touted as a “vital” part of the Big Apple's fight against rats, according to the Gotham City Department of Sanitation.
“Composting street trees fights rats and helps the planet,” Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement.
Food scraps, garden waste such as leaves, and food-stained paper will all be accepted on regular recycling days throughout the year as part of a new citywide compost collection, the agency said. It's planned.
Queens was the first borough to begin regular compost collection in 2022, followed by Brooklyn in 2023. The program was introduced in the Bronx and Staten Island earlier this year, and will finally be introduced in Manhattan in October.
The government says New Yorkers who live in public housing are exempt from the requirement because they fall under federal rules. New York Times.
But a new study on urban recycling trends shows residents are failing to do their jobs anyway.
“Collection productivity remains low, collection costs remain high, and many recyclables end up in the trash,” Anna Champenney, vice chair of research for the bipartisan Citizens' Budget Committee, told the City Council. They are being disposed of together.” At a public hearing in 2022is one of the latest cases in which this issue has been brought up publicly.
“New York City's recycling rate, despite some recent improvements, remains below the relatively modest goal of 23%,” she said at the time.
City officials hope to reverse the slow trend.
Starting this Sunday, residential buildings will be required to provide tenants with access to labeled composting bins, which will be available for free upon request until October 28th in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx.
Owners of buildings with four or more units must also provide storage space.
The citations for those who fail to separate their compost will begin in April 2025, with property owners of one to eight homes being fined $25 for a first offense and $50 each for a second offense. For owners of nine or more housing units, the fine is $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation, and $300 for the third and subsequent violations.
City officials say the compost will be burned to heat local homes, sold to landscapers or distributed to New Yorkers in 40-pound bags for use in their homes and gardens.
“Without these programs, it would all end up in landfills and become nothing but harmful greenhouse gases,” the Sanitation Department said, noting that in the last fiscal year, each district saved about It noted that this amounted to £211m, an increase from £165m in the previous year. .
“This citywide rollout will only increase that alarming number,” the agency said.
The composting mandate was introduced following a separate waste mandate for residential buildings. The rule is Starts from November 12thNow, owners of up to nine homes will be required to dispose of trash in bins with tight-fitting lids instead of in trash bags.
“Last year, the City Council voted to make great and much-needed updates to New York City's trash collection system,” said City Councilman Keith Powers. He mentioned other waste programs that require it. Recycling plants in each ward.
“The new brown bins are a long-awaited upgrade that will allow DSNY to turn food scraps into compost that will help grow new plants, while also combating the city's familiar problem of rats.” added.
“Our leftover food will no longer be their snack.”
