community garden compost law moves along

Why don’t more community gardens 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 will be exempt from this waste management law!

Bill A1872

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. Community gardens that are eligible for this exemption would collect under 200 gallons of food waste each week, with larger gardens able to collect 200 gallons for every 5,000 square feet of land.

Eliminating the need for expensive permits and allowing immediate food waste collection upon passing, this bill would make it easier for community gardens to sustain themselves 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 Department of Environmental Protection.

Recently in mid-February, the Environment and Solid Waste Committee approved amendments to this bill. The next step is scheduling a committee meeting for further discussion. If all goes well, we may see this bill passed in 2026!

More information on Bill A1872:https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/A1872

Track this bill: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

• 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.