Composting Bin Dos and Don’ts: Can Your Building Restrict Your Access?

Q: The management company for my New York City co-op is restricting our access to the new composting bins, which the city provides, to one 24-hour period every week. These “brown bins” are part of the city’s mandatory composting program. The city says there are no special days or limited hours for composting, but the management company says it is limiting the collection time to minimize pests and odors. I have a galley kitchen and cannot keep a week’s worth of food waste. I can use the orange smart bins on the street, but it’s frustrating that the management company is disregarding the purpose of the program. What can we do?

A: Your management company is not breaking any laws, but this policy seems to be in conflict with the spirit of the city’s program, and you can push for greater access to the composting bin.

New York City’s new mandatory composting program is in place in all boroughs. The benefits of composting food scraps and yard waste include controlling the rat population, diverting compostable material out of landfills and incinerators, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Every building is different, and decisions regarding internal trash and recycling storage are up to the residents and managers, according to a spokesman for the city’s Department of Sanitation. Your situation is not expressly prohibited.

Try to enlist your neighbors to approach the management with your concerns, emphasizing that this is a mandatory program, and that composting is good for the building. Storing food waste in apartments is not ideal and can create unsanitary conditions. Separating it reduces garbage-chute cleaning and makes trash bags less heavy, said Clare Miflin, executive director of Center for Zero Waste Design.

The city has anticipated your landlord’s stated concerns, and has said that a bin with a secure lid and a clear plastic liner bag does not generate more odor than food waste in the trash. Newspapers placed on top of each resident’s food waste can also reduce odors in the bin.

It’s possible that your management is limiting access out of a concern that residents won’t know how to use the bin. The Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board has tips for educating residents and encouraging participation.

“It is a mandatory program, and access should be reasonable,” Ms. Miflin said. “The less convenient it is, the less people will participate.”

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