NYC scrapped composting fines, but what happened next broke records anyway

Here’s the dirt on the Big Apple’s new composting effort.

The city broke its composting record for the third week in a row — even after officials scrapped fines for its new mandate, The Post has learned.

New Yorkers recycled a jaw-dropping 5.24 million pounds of food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste in the fourth week of the new program, even though they are no longer slapped with tickets if they toss compostable materials in the trash.

That’s 2,620 tons of trash — equal in weight to 216 Rockefeller Christmas trees.

The Big Apple composted a record-breaking 5.24 million pounds of trash in the program’s fourth week. ZUMAPRESS.com

The stunning total marks a third consecutive week of record-breaking collections since penalties went into effect and were quickly scaled back.

A Sanitation Department spokesperson said in a statement that the program is reaching new heights because “it’s simple and easy to use and understand.”

“New Yorkers want to compost – they just want it to be straightforward,” said Joshua Goodman, deputy commissioner of public affairs. “No more sign-ups, special rules, different days… just a free, weekly, regular service like anything else.”

The 5.24 million pounds of recycled trash is more than a 500% increase from what New York was recycling this time last year, according to the agency.

The new record is equal in weight to 216 Rockefeller Christmas Trees. Christopher Sadowski

The figure shattered the city’s new record for composting, which had just been set the week before at 4.5 million pounds — when composting fines were still in effect for every resident in the five boroughs.

The mandatory program enjoyed less than three full weeks before City Hall stepped in and threw violation fines in the incinerator, caving to widespread anger and confusion over the original guidelines.

Under the new rules, only buildings with more than 30 units can be fined for refusing to compost. Even then, the fines are capped at $100.

Previously, all New Yorkers could be charged for tossing compost in the landfill, with the punishments increasing in value for each subsequent violation.

Nearly 2,000 citations were handed out that first week, and the initial record-breaking compost pile came the following week — setting the standard at 3.8 million pounds, or eight and a half Statues of Liberty.

The program is so successful that the city is opening a third compost giveaway site in Queens, which returns 40 pounds of garden-grade compost back to New Yorkers for free.