The Boston City Council filed and referred a hearing order asking the administration to report on the city’s composting services and the feasibility of expanding those services to more households, commercial properties and larger residential buildings.

Councilor Durkin, joined as a cosponsor by Council President (added on the floor), said curbside composting and Project Oscar community bins have been popular but that demand has already outpaced the contracted facility’s capacity. Durkin said expanding composting access — including commercial and larger residential properties — will be critical to meeting the state’s 2030 solid-waste goals and to improving neighborhood quality of life.

Councilor Flynn and other speakers stressed both the quality-of-life and public-health benefits of diverting food waste from streets and trash bags, and they emphasized public education and multilingual outreach to make an expanded program effective. Committee and sponsor remarks cited state targets and local program growth: a Massachusetts 2030 solid-waste master plan goal to divert 780,000 tons of food waste annually and a recent figure that Massachusetts currently diverts about 380,000 tons per year. The council also noted Boston’s curbside capacity expanded from 10,000 households to 30,000 households in February 2023.

Speakers identified gaps the council expects the hearing to explore: Project Oscar bins and the curbside program do not serve commercial properties or residential buildings with seven or more units; program scaling is limited by processing capacity; and increased diversion can help reduce rodent activity in public areas. Councilors proposed potential lines of inquiry for the committee, including options to scale the Project Oscar network, contractual capacity changes, infrastructure for multi-unit buildings, and aligning food-recovery efforts with anti-hunger organizations.

The docket (1748) was referred to the committee on City Services and Innovation Technology for a hearing and follow-up analysis.