Waste News: New York City

At a City Council Sanitation Committee preliminary budget hearing, we proposed investing $10 million in a public education program around the organic waste and recycling programs available to residents.

This past week, the New York City Department of Sanitation unveiled its much-anticipated plan to reform the inefficient way that garbage generated by businesses and large private institutions is currently collected by dividing the city into commercial waste zones. The new plan is a significant step forward in reducing truck congestion and addressing the amount of waste in our landfills.

Organic materials comprise about 30% of NYC's waste stream, which amounts to 1 million tons of waste. That’s why the NYC Department of Sanitation launched a voluntary composting pilot program. It expanded over the past few years to serve 3.5 million residents but expansion was recently paused.

It is crucial for policymakers to pass legislation to divert food waste from landfills, as only 3% of waste produced in the state does not end up at either a landfill or waste-to-energy facility. The Food Recovery and Recycling Act (that, unfortunately, did not pass) would have discouraged the production, distribution, and preparation of excess food; recovered excess food to be redistributed to those in need; and provided funding for new recycling programs specifically concerning food scraps.