community garden compost law moves along
Why don’t more communities in NJ accept food waste for compost? Well, for a long time it’s been illegal to dump food waste anywhere but a permitted facility or your own backyard. And those permits have been only affordable for large commercial compost/anaerobic digestion facilities. But soon, community gardens and other small community compost sites may be exempt from this waste management law!
Bill A1872 and A2090
Introduced this past January, Bill A1872 aims to exempt community gardens from permits that used to be necessary to create compost and manage organic waste on-site.
Even more exciting, we have Bill A2090 which was passed on January 12th, 2026, which requires solid waste management districts to develop strategies to reduce food waste. It also requires the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt certain rules and regulations regarding composting facilities. In practice, this means different tiers of permits for compost facilities, and appropriately priced permits for different sized facilities.
Based on recent DEP stakeholder meetings, we foresee a likely new regulation that would allow for future community gardens to collect up to 200 gallons of food waste each week. Larger sites might even be able to collect 200 more gallons/week for every 5,000 square feet of extra land.
Eliminating (or reducing) the need for expensive permits and allowing immediate food waste collection upon passing, this bill would make it easier for community gardens, churches, schools, parks, small farms, etc. to support local compost efforts by being able to create and manage their own compost. Finished products can even be given or sold, as long as those procedures comply with requirements by the DEP.
The DEP may address the needs of Bill A1872 while drafting regulations for A2090. New regulations, permitting structure, and recommended next steps for NJ counties will be released by DEP this summer!
More information on Bill A2090: https://legiscan.com/NJ/bill/A2090/2024
More information on Bill A1872: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/A1872
Track Bill A1872: https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1955358
Take Action
Here are ways you can influence legislative decisions and remain updated on developments regarding this law:
Call/email your legislators. James Kennedy, Sterley Stanley, and Shama Haider are the main sponsors for A1872.
Go to an environmental commission meeting in your town, or if your town doesn’t have an environmental commission, start one!
Stay in the loop about when and where we open new community garden collection sites
Follow our Instagram
Join our Newsletter
Host a Community Garden
Contact us at voula@source-compost.com if you want to host a community garden/compost spot on your property to make composting more accessible to your neighborhood!
One benefit of hosting a community garden is that the homeowner may get a property tax break! To qualify, a homeowner must dedicate at least five acres of land to agriculture (in our case, a community garden) and sell some of what is grown to make at least $1,000 per year. This is a good consideration to keep in mind for community gardens that want to save money on taxes.
