Skeptical city residents say Mayor Bloomberg’s new food-waste-recycling program is a great idea — if you’re a rat.
“Recycling, in general, takes a lot of effort,” said Geneva Jeanniton, 22, a hairstylist from East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
“People have to be willing to do it. We might not have room for compost inside. It’s difficult to make space for, and pests are definitely a concern.”
Samara Midler, 39, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, said she is all for the idea of turning food waste into plant-nourishing compost if it isn’t sitting around for days and days at a time.
“We already have a lot of problems with raccoons,” she said. “I would prefer it to be picked up twice a week rather than once a week.”
Reaction was mixed yesterday to Bloomberg’s ambitious plan to expand a food waste-recycling program from Staten Island to the other boroughs in the fall.
The city is also seeking proposals to build a plant that would turn the table scraps into bio-gas, which would be used to generate electricity.
Like the Staten Island pilot initiative, which included 3,500 homes, a citywide composting program would start off on a voluntary basis before becoming mandatory as early as 2015, when fines would be issued for non-compliance.
“It’s working,” said Bloomberg, adding that he composts at home when he can. “We don’t cook at home, but, yes, we have separate trash for composting stuff.”
The mayor said the composting project has generated no complaints so far about vermin.
He leaves office next January, and it would be up to his successor to continue the program.
At least three Democratic candidates for mayor — city Comptroller John Liu, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio — support residential composting.
“This is smart policy that’s going to save taxpayers money and cut down on what we send to landfills,” de Blasio said. “It’s proven to work and it deserves to be expanded across the five boroughs and made mandatory within five years.”
Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota said he would endorse a practical approach.
“Anything we can do to enhance recycling and reduce the amount of waste is important, but we need to do this in a smart and efficient way,” Lhota said.
“This should not be another program that becomes a revenue-generating item to balance the budget.”
Many questions remain on how the program would work in high-rises with limited space for waste disposal.
“I can’t imagine how the city is going to handle it,” said Matt Duncan, 49, a production designer from Clinton Hill. “They can barely handle garbage now.”
But Meredith Davis, an art history professor from Park Slope, said she can’t wait. She already composts food waste in her back yard when the weather is warm but says she could use a little help from the city.
“If I didn’t have a back yard, I would be throwing my stuff out for sure,” Davis said. “It’s one thing I’m doing that’s small, but I feel like it’s productive.”