Thank you to Chair Abreu and members of the committee for holding this hearing today. I assume
it is no coincidence that we are talking about waste diversion during New York City Climate Week,
since diverting waste from landfills is an important tool in our toolbox of strategies to reduce the
city’s greenhouse gas emissions. I have long been a supporter of the goal set under the previous
administration to send zero waste to landfills by 2030. Sadly, as that date draws closer, we remain
far from achieving that goal.
I want to start by focusing on Intro 697, which I introduced with Councilmember Sandy Nurse,
because it touches on all the proposals being heard today. As Commissioner Tisch said in the
introduction to DSNY’s 2023 Waste Characterization study, “To defeat the trash, one must know
the trash.” Waste Characterization Studies give us this insight. In these studies, DSNY examines
what we throw away, considering factors such as seasons, residential density, income, and source
(including homes, schools, public housing, and corner baskets). This gives us a comprehensive
picture of what we’re throwing away and how we can improve.
And improvement remains necessary. The recently released 2024 Mayor’s Management Report
shows that we still have work to do to meet DSNY’s stated diversion goals, and even more work
to do to get to zero waste. The 2023 Waste Characterization Study gives us important
information, including:
- Our recycling capture rate for metal, glass, and plastic is down, and contamination of this
waste stream is up. Additionally, participation rates correlate with higher incomes; - Lithium-ion batteries are a new, frequent appearance in the waste stream; and
- Recent City and State policies banning single-use plastic bags and polystyrene foam have
been effective in reducing the amount of these materials in the waste stream.
This information can and should inform our policy choices. For example, based on what we
learned, we can target recycling education outreach to low-income communities to increase
participation; create smart solutions for disposal of lithium-ion batteries (as proposed in Intro
351); and look to the potential for further bans (such as for single-use plastics, as proposed in
Intro 695) or source-separation mandates (such as for textiles, as proposed in Intro 256).
That is why we proposed Intro 697 to require DSNY to conduct further Waste Characterization
Studies in four and eight years – 2028 and 2032 – so we can continue tracking our progress and
making informed choices about waste policy
I also want to mention a few other policy interventions we can implement to increase waste
diversion. As the City develops its next Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) over the next year,
we have an opportunity to set new goals and codify innovative policies. For example:
- Expand local composting: In less than two weeks, DSNY will expand curbside food scrap
collection to the entire city. As participation increases, we should expand composting
within the five boroughs. Composting locally has economic benefits for our communities,
and avoids the pitfalls of anaerobic co-digestion, which can create increased emissions
and toxic byproducts. My office and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory
Boards will release a report soon about the benefits of composting over other methods
of processing food waste and an analysis of how we can implement Intro 696, which
would require the City to establish 180,000 wet tons of organics processing capacity in
each borough. - Mandate that all commercial businesses source separate organics: Right now, only
certain commercial businesses must separate food waste. As DSNY has testified at
previous hearings, expanding this mandate would help make significant progress in
diverting this waste from landfills. - Support Extended Producer Responsibility legislation at the State level: One of the most
effective ways to keep waste out of landfills is to curb it at its source. Especially as more
people are ordering delivery, regulating packaging is becoming more critical. The
Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act unfortunately did not make it
through the Assembly in the last session, but I am hopeful that with our continued
advocacy, it can pass next year. - Containerize recycling: As DSNY moves to containerize putrescible and organic waste, I
am hopeful that we can expand these efforts to include recycling as well, especially in the
form of shared, on-street containers that give users options for all three types of
separated waste. I am concerned that requiring containerization for one type of waste
but not another will disincentivize source separation and undermine our efforts to stop
“the all-night rat buffet.” - Implement Save-as-you-throw: This idea, which loosely means creating economic
incentives for waste diversion, was floated under the de Blasio administration and
subsequently abandoned. Despite being a controversial idea here, it is actually quite
common in other cities – 7,000 of them in America in fact – using various methods
(generally bins and/or bags priced by size, with cheaper or even free rates for everything
except waste going to landfill). Moving to containerization presents an opportunity to
revisit creating such a program for New York City.
Thank you again for taking the time to examine these important policy proposals. On Climate
week and every week, I look forward to working together with the Council and DSNY to achieve
our zero waste goals.
