New York City to require composting?

[Soliloquy]

The news came out yesterday that New York City is going to start requiring people to compost their food scraps. The TV news stories about it were very vague on the details, though. I'm still trying to figure out if we need to buy a new container just for this purpose (and what the requirements for said container will be), if they'll pick up on the same day as other trash collection, or if this program is even going to happen at all. (I know they've had a pilot program for it for some time now, but I'm not clear on the details.) Does anyone else's city do this? How does it work in your area?

 

[blueiris]

I live in a small town and we don't have any laws regarding composting. I can't believe they can make composting a legal requirement! Composting should be voluntary, in my opinion. How can people in apartments possibly compost? Okay, I just read the article and what they are doing is requiring the food waste to be disposed of in a container supplied by the waste management company. Then the city composts it at a central facility, I suppose. Apparently San Francisco has been doing it for a while. I don't think it should be mandatory. I am for recycling when it's cost effective.

 

[ACSAPA]

You know all the extreme crazy weather that everyone's been experiencing around the world? That's climate change AKA global warming.
Since people think environmentalists are crazy and global warming isn't real, governments are probably going to have to crack down and make recycling and composting mandatory because not enough people are doing them.

 

[warmweatherwoman]

Never heard of mandatory composting but it definitely doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm sure it will hit me next (NJ).

 

[Soliloquy]

I have no problem with doing my part for recycling and composting, I just wonder how a city-wide program will actually work. San Francisco does seem to make it work, but I wonder how compliant New York City will be.

Even if global warming wasn't a problem, conservation and recycling still makes sense to me. I live on Staten Island, home of the notorious landfill. All that garbage has to go somewhere and it's better if we try not to be wasteful.

 

[zigs]

England has been recycling for about 15 years now.

You get a food waste bin with a lockable lid (to keep the Badgers out) Kerbside collection is weekly, we have 2 other bins for recycling glass, plastic bottles, tins, newspapers, cardboard, batteries etc.

We only have fortnightly collections for landfill stuff. I only produce about 2 bags a month. Anything burnable goes in the woodburner to heat the house.

Once a year the council gives out free bags of compost that has been made from the kitchen waste, although there is usually a queue for it.

 

[dconklin]

I have heard of cities doing this, but we don't here yet. I think it would definitely save on waste and think it is a good idea, just not sure how mandatory will work in New York City. I am sure this will take some time to get it all worked out tho.

I am surprised that we are not required to do it here in NJ. It seems that we follow California on a lot of things that works well for them.

 

[Shellyann36]

I wonder how that would work and how they would enforce it. Recycling and composting is the way to go but most people do not do this. I know here in our state each county is responsible for creating and enforcing their own recycling codes. I live in a county where the recycling bins are available at area disposal sites but they are not enforced by the employees working there. In the county that my parents live in the recycling is strictly enforced and the employees will go through your garbage if they feel you are not recycling and then if it is found that you are not recycling the county will fine you.

I know that recycling of this nature is a bit different from required composting but I am still trying to wrap my mind around how they will enforce it.

 

[dconklin]

I wonder how that would work and how they would enforce it. Recycling and composting is the way to go but most people do not do this. I know here in our state each county is responsible for creating and enforcing their own recycling codes. I live in a county where the recycling bins are available at area disposal sites but they are not enforced by the employees working there. In the county that my parents live in the recycling is strictly enforced and the employees will go through your garbage if they feel you are not recycling and then if it is found that you are not recycling the county will fine you.

I know that recycling of this nature is a bit different from required composting but I am still trying to wrap my mind around how they will enforce it.

My Dad lives in an area where they have recycle bins for the county and you don't see anybody monitoring it at all. Most people seem to be quite respectful of how it all works tho.

Where I live recycling doesn't get any easier but yet there are people who do not do it. We can use any bucket or even a trash can if we want (or can buy a recycling can from the town) and you throw all recycling into the can. There is no sorting of any kind - it all goes together. The town comes and picks it up on garbage day, they send out 2 trucks on garbage day - one for garbage and one for recycling. All you have to do is put in on the curb which is about 6 feet from the house, but yet we have people who are not doing it.

Sad because it is made so easy here too. We use 5 gallon buckets for our recycling. Heck if you put your stuff in plastic shopping bags they take it.

 

[Shellyann36]

My Dad lives in an area where they have recycle bins for the county and you don't see anybody monitoring it at all. Most people seem to be quite respectful of how it all works tho.

Where I live recycling doesn't get any easier but yet there are people who do not do it. We can use any bucket or even a trash can if we want (or can buy a recycling can from the town) and you throw all recycling into the can. There is no sorting of any kind - it all goes together. The town comes and picks it up on garbage day, they send out 2 trucks on garbage day - one for garbage and one for recycling. All you have to do is put in on the curb which is about 6 feet from the house, but yet we have people who are not doing it.

Sad because it is made so easy here too. We use 5 gallon buckets for our recycling. Heck if you put your stuff in plastic shopping bags they take it.

Yes it is like that here in my county too. So many people don't recycle. We have two trash companies that work in our area. One is a huge state-wide company that does not offer the recycling option and one is a small locally owned company that does offer the recycling option. We contacted the smaller company to collect our waste but he wanted us to roll our can and the recycling box to the end of the road we live on. I can't see me getting out there and lugging them that far (we are at least 2/10ths of a mile off of the road) while trying to juggle the babies as well. We have a truck and we just decided to take it to the disposal center on our own. While at our disposal center you can see where people just toss bags full of materials that could be recycled into the hopper of the regular trash. I just want to scream at them for it.

 

[ACSAPA]

I think a lot of people are too lazy to recycle or compost so making it mandatory makes sense. I wonder who's going to go door to door making sure that people are doing it.
Also, what happens to the compost afterwards? Not that many people have yards in New York. Is the city going to use it for some big gardening project?

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

We have mandatory composting in Vancouver. We are given bins for our compostable materials and are expected to sort these materials out of our regular garbage. The city picks up these bins and does the composting. While I like the idea, it does not work at all when you have multiple units using the same bins. People do not place the correct items in there and then the whole batch is ruined. At least with the individual ones, the tainted bins are flagged and not collected so there is some accountability.
While composting makes sense if you want the compost, of all the stuff we throw into the garbage, organic materials should be the least of the concerns for landfills as they breakdown relatively quickly and safely.

 

[Chuck]

Are they talking about fresh food scaps like carrot tops or are they talking about leftover cooked foods. I hope not the latter. I compost all of my fresh scraps but I have to do it outside because it attracts insects like fruit flys. I think this mandantory law is just another bunch of beauracratic BS that will have unintended consequiences and will only end up costing taxpayers more of their dwindling dollars.