No Composting Fines!
The city’s new food waste composting program, launched in January, is way ahead of schedule and is on track this year to recycle about 19,000 additional tons of organic material, equal to 380 rail cars, that otherwise would go to a landfill.
The program has been very successful to date and in order to make sure that everyone in the city knows the new recycling rules, the mayor said he is suspending the fines.
Originally the fines would have taken effect starting July 1 instead the mayor wants the emphasis this year to be on customer education.
“This is great news for Earth Day — great news for any day of the year,” said Murray.
Progress
“Seattle is only weeks into our nation-leading program, and we have already achieved about half the 38,000-ton per year goal we planned on reaching after three years of the program.”
By the end of the year there is an excellent chance the city will have achieved its long-term goal of recycling 60 percent of its waste.
A mid-March survey by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) found that 71 percent of Seattleites are now aware of the new composting law, but Murray is directing Seattle Public Utilities to conduct additional outreach and education.
Learn more about Seattle’s composting requirement.