SEATTLE — Seattle residents who fail to separate food waste from trash will be fined.
The City Council voted Monday to impose the fines for not composting.
When the ordinance goes into effect next year, homeowners found with food scraps in their trash will be fined $1 for each violation KING reported Tuesday. The fine is up to $50 for a business or apartment complex.
Seattle Public Utilities estimates that about a third to one-half of what now goes in the trash should be recycled or put in compost bins.
The new law is aimed at helping Seattle reach its goal of having a recycling rate of 60 percent by 2015. The change is expected to generate an additional 38,000 tons of compost material every year.
San Francisco also has a mandatory composting ordinance.
Currently, residents of single-family homes in Seattle are encouraged but not required to dispose of food waste and some paper products in compost bins, The Seattle Times reported. Apartment buildings must have compost bins available, but residents of apartment buildings aren’t required to use them. Businesses aren’t subject to any composting requirements,