Good morning Chairs Nurse and Menin and thank you for holding this hearing today. Implementation of Commercial Waste Zones is extremely important to me, because I worked very hard during my time in the City Council, alongside DSNY, to craft and pass the legislation that created the program. If implemented as intended, Commercial Waste Zones have the potential to benefit New Yorkers in many ways, including improving public health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting workers, and making our streets safer.
Last term, the City Council passed a budget that provided DSNY with funding for 38 staff specifically dedicated to CWZ, as well as funding for outreach and marketing. Yet we’ve heard from multiple sources that these staff either haven’t been hired or have been consistently reassigned to other projects, such as the Queens compost rollout. As much as I support expanding compost collection, it should not come at the expense of this program.
The delayed implementation has meant more unnecessary vehicle miles traveled, more unsafe working conditions for transfer station employees, and more dangerous trucks on our streets, as carters delay investments due to uncertainty. It has also led to confusion for small business owners. One recently contacted my office when a new carter took over their existing carter’s contract, concerned because they assumed that DSNY had chosen the new carter for them as part of CWZ. This speaks to the misinformation that is out there, which needs to be cleared up to ensure a successful rollout.
I am also concerned about recent reporting in which DSNY representatives said that CWZ was, until recently, on the path to failure. Their claims that our plan would cause costs to skyrocket are not borne out by the findings of their own environmental review, which showed that increased efficiencies would offset any increased costs for the carters. The plan that we created with the previous administration was carefully crafted to incentivize recycling and diversion rates, good jobs, and clean fleets. We cannot let this be watered down due to influence from the carting industry, which has shown time and time again that it will always prioritize profit over the environment and safety. Even the Los Angeles example that DSNY has pointed to as a failure has proven successful – after an admittedly difficult rollout, the program now has 99% on-time pickups, and has led to significant investments in green fleets, infrastructure projects, and waste diversion, according to Waste Dive.
On the bills being considered today:
Intro 933 would create a CWZ Working Group. LA’s difficult rollout shows us that there will be lessons learned as the program is implemented. Having experts at the table from both within and outside the industry can only help guide the process to success. As soon as DSNY designates enough carters to choose from, I encourage the Council to move quickly to appoint the Working Group members. In the meantime, the Council should fully appoint the existing CWZ Safety Task Force.
Intro 493 would require DSNY to establish a plan for accepting commercial waste at the Marine Transfer Stations (MTSs). I introduced this bill last term as another solution to getting dangerous waste trucks off our streets. Thanks to advocacy by the environmental justice community, the MTSs remove waste by barge and rail rather than long-haul truck. Asking haulers to indicate their interest in using these facilities in their RFP responses was a start; however, without pricing information they cannot be sure that this will be a viable option. This bill will push DSNY to create a clear plan that will support our EJ communities.
Resolution 167 calls on the State to pass an improved Bottle Bill. According to reloop, for every one beverage container delivered to SIMS for recycling, 10 more end up in landfills, incinerators, or litter. We absolutely can do better. The State’s proposal to expand the type of containers covered and increase the handling fee is a good start. However, we also need to work locally to make redeeming these containers easy and convenient so more New Yorkers will participate in keeping them out of landfill.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to working closely with City Council and DSNY on the next steps for CWZ. The program will be transformative for our city, but only if it’s done right – and only when it’s actually done. It’s time to stop delaying and start implementation.
