SEATTLE, Sept. 24 (UPI) —
The Seattle City Council approved a new ordinance Monday that could mean $1 charges for residents who don’t compost their food waste before throwing it out.
The new Seattle Public Utilities rule allows sanitation workers to take a cursory look into the garbage bins they collect. If they see more than 10 percent of the bin, they can then leave a ticket saying the resident should expect to see a $1 fine on their next bill. The rule applies to single-family homes.
The same rule applies to apartment buildings and businesses as well, but they will receive two warnings and then be fined $50 on the third violation. Their dumpsters will be inspected on a random basis.
The SPU said they do not expect to collect many fines but it is meant to raise awareness and encourage recycling to get on pace for a recycling rate of 60 percent by 2015, reports the Seattle Times.
"Our growth rate for recycling has stalled," said Council member Sally Bagshaw. "It’s surprising, but we still send 300,000 tons of garbage every year to a landfill in eastern Oregon. I think we can do a lot better than that."
The new law is expected to generate an additional 38,000 tons in compost per year.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.