City renews focus on composting enforcement, leaving some property owners worried
The Department of Sanitation confirmed that the current administration is renewing attention on compliance.
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After a pause under the Adam's administration of the initial push for compost fine enforcement in 2025, DSNY officials say they are once again ramping up oversight of the city’s composting rules.
It's a shift that has some property owners bracing for potential fines.
The Department of Sanitation confirmed that the current administration is renewing attention on compliance.
A review by the city’s Independent Budget Office found that the Mamdani administration “resumed some level of fines in 2026, but it remains well below initial full enforcement levels.”
For now, DSNY says the emphasis remains on education. Inspectors are issuing warnings and working with buildings to ensure residents understand what belongs in the brown compost bins.
But some landlords say the compost bins aren’t their biggest concern, but inspections of the regular trash, that will result in violations.
Chris Athineos, who owns several rent‑controlled buildings in Brooklyn, says the real problem is what ends up in the regular trash chutes of older buildings.
“It's compostable food, but it's also plastic that could be recycled, paper they just tossing it all down,” Athineos said, pointing to diapers, paper and other mixed waste. “It’s a biohazard, and it’s not being sorted.”
Athineos says he has tried signage, direct conversations with tenants and demonstrations on how to properly separate waste.
Still, he says compliance remains inconsistent.
“Some people, they’re just not going to separate it,” he said. “We can’t separate it out ourselves.”
He worries that if the city increases fines, landlords will bear the cost for behavior they can’t control.
“I’m afraid the city is going to try and balance its budget from the curb,” Athineos said. “And it’s going to be property owners paying it, not the tenants who don’t care.”
In a statement, DSNY said enforcement remains a tool the agency can use when necessary.
“Enforcement is always a part of these programs,” the agency said. “It isn’t our first tool in the toolbox, but it’s always one that we’re willing to use.”
