The City Council put off a decision Monday whether to require businesses to compost as a way for the city to reach its goal of zero waste to landfills by 2021.
The proposed ordinance calls for businesses to pay for compost services and put food scraps and food-soiled paper in green bins. Recyclables would go in blue bins and garbage in black bins.
More than 70 percent, or 21,000 tons, of the city's garbage is compostable or recyclable, according to a 2012 study.