NYC Zeroes In On Zero Waste

In what would be a huge expansion of its composting program, New York City is moving to require arenas, large hotel restaurants and food wholesalers to compost all of their food scraps. The program would be mandatory for some New York businesses that generate large amounts of food waste, like the Barclays Center, Citi Field and Yankee Stadium; restaurants inside hotels with more than 150 rooms; and large food-processing plants.

The current composting program composts about 50,000 tons a year, largely from homes. Expanding the program—which the city says would affect 132 hotels, seven arenas, 58 manufacturers and 160 wholesalers—would double the amount of composted material. Eventually, New York plans to require all city restaurants to comply and compost food scraps.

Hearings on the proposed regulations will begin in the fall; if the regulations are passed, they are likely to go into effect next year. Businesses would be given a six-month grace period, after which violations would result in fines, although the amounts haven’t yet been disclosed.