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City Council Passes Bill for Pilot Composting Program

By Nicholas Rizzi | September 13, 2013 1:46pm
 Councilwoman Debi Rose sponsored a bill passed by the City Council to create a two-year pilot program to compost food waste around the city and in schools.
Councilwoman Debi Rose sponsored a bill passed by the City Council to create a two-year pilot program to compost food waste around the city and in schools.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

STATEN ISLAND — The City Council has passed a bill to create a two-year pilot program for food waste collection across the city.

Separate from the curbside food waste collection program launched by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Staten Island in May, the bill, sponsored by Councilwoman Debi Rose and passed Thursday, will expand composting to other boroughs and schools across the city.

The bill did not specify which neighborhoods would get the new programs, but Rose said it would help curb the $100 million the city spends sending its food waste to landfills every year.

“As a Staten Islander, I know only too well what a huge waste output means; we were burdened with a temporary dump that existed for 50 years," Rose said in a statement.

"We need to reduce landfill; we need to reduce  our carbon footprint; we need to generate jobs; and we need to save money for the city."

The bill states that at least three neighborhoods in different boroughs and 300 schools will be put into the program. Participation will be voluntary, the bill said.