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For most city residents it’s difficult to recycle effectively. If you live in a house or small apartment building served by city sanitation crews, you’re most likely going to have to take your recyclables to a drop-off center or take the chance that blue bagging will actually keep your newspapers, cans, and bottles out of a landfill. If you live in a building with more than four units, you’re paying (in rent or condo fees) for a private waste hauler to take your garbage. Unless recycling is part of your building’s deal with the garbage company—or you’re taking it to a drop-off center on your own—it’s unlikely any is happening at all.
Composting isn’t illegal currently, but if the full council signs off on the amendment next month the law would be clearer about the materials allowed to be used in the process. “I think some of us may have had an occasional complaint from someone questioning the composting [activity] of a neighbor,” said 19th Ward alderman Ginger Rugai, who chairs the committee.
