Garbage/Recycling Laws in your Area

[JamesG]

Sanitation dropped off these Food Scrap & Yard Waste bins around my area last summer and other residential areas had received them earlier.

The new NYC laws required residents to dispose of food scraps and yard waste in these separate containers and no longer allowing them for "regular garbage". Things like uneaten food, dirty paper plates and napkins, bones, tea bags, leaves, twigs... were to be put in these. The reason for this was so they can use the waste to make mulch for public parks and community gardens.

Some residents complained about this saying that they will attract critters when they leave them out waiting for pick-up, but nothing serious happened.



I was just wondering if your area had these same requirements?

[opus]

We've had those too. If they're securely fastened, I don't see a danger of strays getting into them.

[MA]

No, but there are a lot of neighbors in my part of the neighborhood who have their trash picked up by either Casella, Waste Management, or a local company.

[Ohio8]

No. Toledo has weekly garbage pickup and biweekly recyclables pickup, but no kitchen scraps recycling.

[MrCleveland]

We don't have compost bins in Cleveland. I usually recycle the bottles, cans, glass, and cardboard.

Ironically...at my church, I'm the one who's recycle concious!

[JamesG]

An update to this is that NYC stopped making it mandatory to dispose of kitchen and yard waste separately when the pandemic hit.

There's designated drop-off sites around where people can drop it off themselves if they wish. We recently had a letter sent where residents can put down their names if they wished to have it picked up regularly. It said they would bring it back based on how many names they received.

[Caroline13]

This separation of recycle vs scraps (garbage) has been going on in Santa Monica for years and perhaps in most of Los Angeles.


Santa Monica enacted the strictest no smoking laws years ago also. Even smoking on the beaches, as all those butts go into the ocean. And butts were allegedly found in fish.

[GentlemanJim]

Here out in the middle of the soybean fields of Indiana we have no "food scraps" restrictions, but they do provide separate bins for general garbage, and 2 smaller ones for plastics and cardboard.

But they did just recently add a restriction (due to pandemic related staffing issues) that each household will be limited to one "bulk item" not in an approved container...per week. This pertains to old chairs, non hazardous building materials, stuff like that.

I put a new high security front door on my house recently, and sat the old door out at the curb with my regular garbage, and they did not accept it. So, I took a saw and cut the door into two pieces, and they took that the following week.

[AB]

Originally Posted by JamesG

Sanitation dropped off these Food Scrap & Yard Waste bins around my area last summer and other residential areas had received them earlier.

The new NYC laws required residents to dispose of food scraps and yard waste in these separate containers and no longer allowing them for "regular garbage". Things like uneaten food, dirty paper plates and napkins, bones, tea bags, leaves, twigs... were to be put in these. The reason for this was so they can use the waste to make mulch for public parks and community gardens.

Some residents complained about this saying that they will attract critters when they leave them out waiting for pick-up, but nothing serious happened.



I was just wondering if your area had these same requirements?

We live in the country and we don't have anything like that. You don't even have to recycle if you don't want to. Everything goes in the dumpster or you can haul big items to the landfill.

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by Ohio8

No. Toledo has weekly garbage pickup and biweekly recyclables pickup, but no kitchen scraps recycling.

Same here in my area of Michigan.

[JamesG]

I got a notice in the mail that my area is mandating the separation of food scraps / yard waste again by October.

[biffbronson]

I have City separation of yard waste from regular trash, but no mention of food scraps - they still go into regular trash, unless I want to compost them myself.

The yard waste is supposed to consist of twigs, clippings, grass cuttings, small tree branches, etc. only.

Bi-weekly recyclables pickups.

If you have raccoons and other critters in your area, there's a high likelihood they'll chew into the lids of the plastic bins to get at food waste. In my case the kitchen scraps are supposed to be bagged along with other trash and will not attract them.

[icecream]

Thankfully no intrusive laws where I am, all of the trash at my apartments can go into the same giant dumpster.

[JamesG]

To remove the mountains of black bags on New York City streets, reclaim public space, and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers, DSNY has announced a plan to containerize all residential trash beginning fall 2024.

The new rules also apply to houses of worship receiving DSNY curbside collection.




Beginning November 12, 2024, all properties with 1-9 residential units will be required to use bins, 55 gallons or less, with secure lids for trash set out.

If you already use a bin with a secure lid that is 55 gallons or less for trash set out, you may continue to use it until June 2026. After that, you will need to switch to the official NYC Bin.

Separate NYC Bins are available for purchase for recycling and composting though they are not required.




November 12, 2024: All properties with 1-9 residential units must use bins, 55 gallons or less, with secure lids for trash set out.

June 2026: All properties with 1-9 residential units will be required to use the official NYC Bin for trash set out.

https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/collec...erization.page

[Ohio8]

Originally Posted by Ohio8

No. Toledo has weekly garbage pickup and biweekly recyclables pickup, but no kitchen scraps recycling.

It's the same in Maumee, Ohio, where I now live, but our recyclables are collected weekly instead of biweekly. I'll take pictures of my house's carts tomorrow and post them here.