Troy, NY Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Composting in the City of Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, is governed by Troy City Code § 247-8(C)(3), a paragraph inside the solid waste chapter that the Troy City Council adopted for private dwelling premises. The paragraph opens with a statement of current practice: the City does not provide food waste or compost collection services at this time. The words "at this time" matter, because they tell residents the service is not guaranteed to stay absent, but nothing in the text promises a start date. The City says it advocates for composting at home or with a private collection service.

Two paths follow. The first is home composting. A property that chooses to compost at home must follow the NYSDEC guidelines for home composting. The City Code does not reprint those guidelines. No bin size, pile height, setback distance or material list appears in § 247-8(C)(3), so the state guidance is the standard a Troy household is measured against.

The second path is a private collection service. The company or organization must be permitted with the City to haul waste material, and it must also abide by the private waste collection rules in Subsection D of the same section. Subsection D covers commercial, institutional and multiple-dwelling premises, where owners arrange pickup through a private contractor approved and permitted by the City and use a dumpster with recyclable and compost materials appropriately separated as set forth in the City's Solid Waste Long-Term Plan.

Haulers face their own conditions under the chapter. Any person who removes solid wastes as a business needs a solid waste collection permit from the Commissioner of General Services under § 247-5, and the collection rules require a vehicle that carries compost or food waste to be enclosed and watertight. Residents who simply bag food scraps into the garbage container are not covered by this paragraph; they follow the garbage container rules in § 247-8(C)(1), which cap each container at 95 gallons.