Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty announced today that the Department of Sanitation will launch its 2008 Spring Yard Waste Composting Collection exclusively on Staten Island during the weeks of May 18-24 and June 1-7.  As part of the program, residents must set out their properly bagged spring yard waste on their regular recycling day after 4 P.M.  The special collection started as a pilot program on Staten Island last year as part of the City's Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan.  Starting May 1, failure to comply with the program will result in summonses being issued.

"Last year's pilot program let the Department test the feasibility of collecting and composting spring yard waste, and the result was that New Yorkers are ready and willing to dispose of their yard waste, that will be turned into high-quality compost," said Commissioner Doherty. 

It is now illegal for residents to set out their yard waste (leaves, twigs, grass, etc.) in any receptacle other than heavy-duty paper bags, which decompose along with yard waste, or in unlined rigid containers during the collection period designated by the Department of Sanitation for composting.  Fines for setting out yard waste in plastic bags or other unauthorized containers during this collection period start at $25, and the improperly bagged yard waste will be collected as garbage. 

Heavy-duty yard and paper leaf bags can be purchased at a variety of local hardware stores.  Tree limbs and branches must be tied no more than 2 feet high and 4 feet long, except in designated areas that were quarantined to prevent the spread of the Asian Long-Horned Beetle.

For residents who use commercial landscapers, it is illegal for any waste resulting from your private landscaper's services to be set out for collection by the Department.  Commercial landscapers must remove collected yard waste and dispose of it properly. 

For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/wasteless, or call 311.