Exclusive | NYC residents and building supers struggle with the new composting program: It rots and turns to juice and attracts more rodents

Chef George Duran produces lots of food scraps.Recently, though, having them collected by the city has not only brought confusion — but also challenges.Duran’s huge kitchen — where he does all of his recipe development — is set up for composting.

It was built with four bins — for regular trash, paper, plastic/metal/glass and compost.“I hate food waste going into the trash or landfill,” said Duran, who owns a three-family brownstone in Harlem, where he lives with his wife and two children.“But composting has been a hassle.”Since mandatory Manhattan composting started in early October, the Sanitation Department has skipped his weekly compost pickup several times, he said — though it has been more consistent recently.

A tree consumes much of his sidewalk, and it was tough to figure out where exactly to place his compost bin, which can’t go out for collection until 6 p.m.When he chained his bin to his front gate — worried it would be stolen — sanitation workers told him it was in the wrong spot.Then, even with his address carved on it, the bin was ultimately stolen.He witnessed the theft on his security camera.

“I saw the guy pull out an 80-pound bag of compost, drop it in front of my house and roll the bin away,” Duran told The Post.Several days later, he saw his bin at a nearby building, so he snatched it back.And he hid an AirTag inside, so he can track it down should it be stolen again.As the city rolls out its compost program, confusion is widespread.In their space-starved apartments, residents complain they have no good place to store their mounting food scraps.

Some have almost no freezer space, so they can’t easily follow the Sanitation Department’s suggestion to keep the scraps in the freezer, thereby preventing rotting-food odors — not to mention the risk of insects — permeating throughout their homes.Small buildings must have a designated spot with clearly labeled bins, but not all are in compliance — and that area ...