San Francisco’s New Recycling and Composting Laws
In just five weeks, San Francisco residents will face fines if they fail to separate their food scraps from their aluminum cans.
- » See also: Obsessed with the Magic of Chickens
- » Get EcoLocalizer by RSS or sign up by email.
This is probably the country’s most aggressive recycling and composting law to date. The program is part of San Francisco’s goal to send zero waste to landfills or incinerators by 2020. According to SFGate, the city is now giving out around 130 compost bins per day, up from five to 10 before the program was set to launch. The city is also working to educate folks about what can can can’t go in the recycling or compost bin.
Can I just say here how impressed I am that San Francisco offers curbside composting at all? Imagine how many folks across the U.S. would compost their food scraps if they didn’t have to fret about maintaining a bin!
First time offenders will receive warnings. After several warnings, residents could face fines of up to $100 and businesses would be looking at up to $500 in fines. For the most “egregious cases,” folks could face fines nearing $1000. The law take effect on October 21st, when residents will be expected to separate trash, compostables, and recyclables into color-coded bins.
If you’re a San Francisco resident and need some sorting tips, SFGate has a really helpful chart to get you started!
Could San Francisco’s recycling and composting law pave the way for similar programs in other cities? We’ve already seen a ban on recyclables in landfills in North Carolina. It feels like local governments are getting more involved in minimizing landfill waste. What do you think?
Image Credits:
Urban Compost. Creative Commons photo by arimoore
Bins. Creative Commons image by justhugo
I can’t wait for the new composting laws to be enacted in San Francisco. The Department of the Environment has already helped me to make the owner of the commercial building where the SF Bicycle Coalition lives comply with the new composting laws, as well as improve the recycling services in the building. In the past, volunteers had to pick up all of the office’s compost twice a week and haul it on bikes to our neighborhood community garden. The city-wide residential compost system has been excellent; I am so glad that all commercial buildings are now finally being included as well.