Proposal would expand Chicago composting rules
Wes King
Proposal would expand Chicago composting rules
Fresh food scraps for composting are delivered to an urban farm in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.
(Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)Chicago's aldermen are considering a proposal to track and legalize donations of uncooked food scraps to urban farms and community gardens, a practice commonly used by city gardeners and farmers to make fertilizer.
"Expanding composting is an easy way to support our neighborhoods in growing fresh fruits and vegetables right in their own backyards," Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who introduced the ordinance last week, said in a statement.
Under the proposal, urban farms and community gardens would have to register with the city and maintain records of the scraps donated. The fertilizer, or compost, would only be allowed in the site where it is created and couldn't be sold unless the farm or garden gets a special permit from the city.
Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, an advocacy group representing 50 environmental groups, said the proposed ordinance is the product of nearly two years of negotiations with city officials and includes provisions to address concerns about foul smells and rats. For example, all compost must be inside a "vessel" with no openings. Violators could be fined between $300 and $600 per offense.
Proponents of relaxing composting rules said current city regulations are too stringent and haven't kept up with the interest in urban farming or gardening. To help bridge the gap, the proposal would also allow the amount of compost produced without a permit to increase by doubling containers' size limits to 10 cubic yards.
Under current regulations, urban farms and community gardens can only compost materials generated on site. It's illegal for them to accept food scrap donations, and they need permits for containers larger than 5 cubic yards, about the size of a garden shed. If a compost pile only has landscape waste, the size limit is 10 cubic yards.
Under the proposal, organic waste can be mixed with landscape waste, though permits would still be required for containers larger than 10 cubic yards. Additionally, nonprofits that produce less than 4,000 tons of compost a year would get a special permit rate of $300, down from $3,000. The cost reduction would benefit farms like Iron Street Urban Farm in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.
The proposal would bring Chicago in line with more lax state composting rules approved in 2013. Those rules allowed farms to accept donations of composting additives, like wood chips or food scraps, and waived a permit for farmers who dedicate up to 2 percent of their land to composting as long as the fertilizer is not sold, fees are not charged for accepting waste and the compost operation is registered with the state.
Billy Burdett, director of Advocates for Urban Agriculture, an advocacy group, said the ordinance brings Chicago closer to his group's goal to have a compost facility in every community. Advocates for Urban Agriculture is pushing to further expand the proposal to include things like the ability to transport compost between locations operated by the same people.
"We are excited for the legislation to move forward," Burdett said.
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