New York City’s composting crackdown has officially begun – and it’s already making waves.
In the first week of April, nearly 2,000 property owners were slapped with fines for failing to comply with the city’s mandate to separate organic waste from regular trash. While the rule has been on the books since October, enforcement only kicked into high gear on April 1, with fines starting at $25 for those caught disregarding the new regulation.
The initiative comes after years of promises from prior city administrations that fell short on action. “Past administrations talked a big game about composting, but none of them had the guts to get it done,” said Joshua Goodman, a spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation (DSNY). “New Yorkers have been clamoring for years for a curbside composting program that’s normal. No special rules, no off days, no starts and stops.”
The early results have been striking. In just the first week of heightened enforcement, the city collected 2.5 million pounds of compostable material—nearly three times the amount collected during the same period last year.
However, New York still faces the daunting task of converting more residents to regular composters. Participation rates are low, with only 5% of households currently composting, compared to a 44% recycling rate. To tackle this, Goodman pointed to the more than 40,000 composting bins requested by residents since March, signaling growing interest, though much work remains.
Mayor Eric Adams emphasized that the enforcement is not about raising city revenue but about creating a composting culture. “We don’t want to just hit people with fines to encourage them, we want people to buy into the program and make sure that it’s done correctly,” he said.
