Mayor Eric Adams backtracks on New York City's composting law with new exemptions from fines

In an abrupt backtrack, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration in recent days has exempted most of New York City’s residential buildings from being fined for violating the composting law, which mandates that food scraps and yard waste be separated from the rest of the trash.

That new exemption covers buildings with fewer than 30 units, as well as a carve-out for bigger buildings, which now won’t face fines until the fifth time being caught violating the law and will instead receive warnings for the first four violations, according to Joshua Goodman, a spokesman for the city’s Sanitation Department.

The exemptions last until year's end, he said.

Although composting has been mandatory for New York City residential buildings since October, it wasn’t until April 1 that violators could face fines.

For buildings with eight or fewer units, the fine is $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $100 for each one afterward; the fine for buildings with nine or more units is $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second and $300 for each one after. Sanitation supervisors are on the lookout for violators, similar to how other recycling violations are policed.

The fine postponement is reportedly the handiwork of Adams’ new first deputy, Randy Mastro. The mayor’s press office didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Compost, which must be set out in a designated bin on recycling day, includes food scraps, grass and yard waste that gets picked up at the curb by the city and used for gardening and other purposes. Composting helps reduce waste, cut down on trash, address climate change and build healthy soil, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which says that by composting, "we transform our waste streams into a beneficial, value-added soil amendment and use it to protect the environment and create resilient communities."

No municipality on Long Island requires residential composting, Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, told Newsday earlier this month.

Since New York City's law went into effect, some residents and superintendents have complained of increased work to separate the compost from the rest of the trash and unfairly adding to the workload of porters in buildings, particularly rentals, where renters don’t comply.

Goodman said educating the public about composting would include department-hosted community events, knocking on doors and the giveaway of 5 million pounds of free compost this summer to residents.

City Councilman Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan) said in an interview Saturday that the Sanitation Department had already issued about 4,000 fines in the first two weeks, leading to increasing compliance citywide.

But now, with the Adams administration’s announcement, he said, "it appears now to be less mandatory composting and more optional composting, when you think about how the mayor has fumbled the rollout, underfunding composting education and deciding to not enforce anymore. I think it sends a message that mandatory composting is not a law that they’re taking seriously."

Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) in a statement accused the administration of delaying and limiting free compost bin distribution and taking other steps to sabotage the law.

"Mayor Adams and Randy Mastro can't just pick and choose which laws to implement," she said. "That's not how the legislative process works."

Correction: An earlier version of this story did not accurately describe the number of fines issued by the Sanitation Department in the first two weeks of city composting enforcement.

By Matthew Chayes

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Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.