By:  Serach Nissim

Mayor Eric Adams will introduce New York City’s first composting mandate on Monday.  As reported by the NY Times, the proposed rule, which would take effect over the next 18 months, would require residents with yards to separate their leaves, flowers, twigs and grass clippings for compost, and dispose of them separately from their trash.  “Yard waste is the right place to start because it’s something New Yorkers already naturally separate,” said sanitation commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who noted that making composting mandatory was important, and this would be an easy first step for New Yorkers. “There’s no real behavioral change required, and I think you have to ease into these mandates.”

Residents will be expected to set aside yard waste and put it out for collection on their recycling pickup day instead of mixing it in with the regular trash. “The only adjustment is instead of putting it in black bags, you put it in a clear bag or a compost bin and leave it out on your recycling day and we’ll come pick it up,” Tisch said. “Instead of that material sitting in landfill for decades, we’ll turn it into soil or renewable energy.”

To get the upcoming rule rolling, the popular voluntary curbside composting program will restart on Monday in Queens, after it was paused for the winter.  The pickup effort will be expanded in October to include Brooklyn, to Staten Island and the Bronx in March 2024 and to Manhattan in October 2024.  The mandate for separating yard-waste is slated to take effect starting in June for Queens. The mandate would expand to the other boroughs, as curbside composting becomes available in those areas. The mandate will not require approval from the City Council, although a public hearing will be held.

As per the NY Times, the mandate for composting yard waste would be in effect for eight months of each year—excluding August, December, January, and February. The special collection will continue year-round regardless.  City officials say that, following a three-month warning period, the Sanitation Department will start issuing tickets for noncompliance with the yard-waste rules.  At that time, residents can get citations for discarding yard waste out as trash– the same way tickets are doled out for putting recyclable cans or bottles in the garbage.

For over a decade, NYC leaders have been wanting to promote composting mandate.  It will soon be a reality, thanks to Adams, a Democrat in his second year in office, who is prioritizing making the city cleaner, improving trash collection and getting rid of rats.  The city has also recently unveiled rules about how early the garbage may be put out.  The new rules, which will take effect on April 1, say residential buildings will have to put their garbage out after 6 p.m. if using a container, or after 8 p.m. if putting bags on the curb.  This aims to have the garbage left out for shorter time, and the city has been advertising this using an ad which features a rat carrying a suitcase under the headline: “Send Rats Packing!”