Waste Management in New York
City
a brief and incomplete introduction
Urban metabolism
 Over 250,000 deliveries per day
 Almost 38,000 delivery trucks per
day
Source: United States Department of Transportation, “Integrative Freight
Demand Management In The New York City Metropolitan Area”,
September 30, 2010
Incoming: 142,597,000 tons per year
 Outgoing 119,507,000 tons per year
Source: U.S. Commodity Flow Survey
(Domestic Freight)

provisioning New York City: 2008 statistics
(such as they are)
the moment of consumption
the moment of consumption
In total: approximately 12 million tons per year –
5.5 million tons going to disposal; 6.5 million
“diverted” from disposal
Different types of waste from different
types of “generators”
• Residents and public institutions (serviced by
Department of Sanitation
– Including public works projects (asphalt, demolition)
• Commercial entities (serviced by over 200 different
private carting companies)
– Offices, shops, restaurants, etc.
– Construction and demolition, excavation
• Parallel and separate systems
• Different waste streams, degrees of information,
composition, quantity, destinations, and outcomes
Biggest Possible View
~ 12 million tons
Citywide diversion rate of 54%
6,000,000
other diversion (tires and
abandoned autos)
5,000,000
inert diversion
4,000,000
textiles/hhw/e-waste (too small
to be visible)
3,000,000
traditional recycling
(paper/cardboard and MGP)
2,000,000
leaf/yard/food
1,000,000
disposed
-
Commercial
Putrescible
Commercial
C&D/Fill
DSNY-Managed
* Commercial tonnages estimated based on self-reported data, preliminary for FY11
Breaking out DSNY responsibilities
4,000,000
3,500,000
other diversion (excluded from
statistics)
inert diversion
15%
3,000,000
textiles/hhw/e-waste
2,500,000
traditional recycling
2,000,000
leaf/yard/food
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
-
curbside/containerized/community
16% diversion
cleaning, roadwork
93% diversion
Current disposal system
Long-Term Plan: Borough Equity
DSNY Curbside Recycling Collection
400,000 tons of
paper recyclables
collected annually.
250,000 tons of metal,
glass, & plastic
recyclables collected
annually.
P a pe r, M e ta l, Gla ss a nd P la stic
Re cycling Ra te Since J uly 19 9 7
17.5 % a s of J une 2 0 0 5
40.0%
35.0%
e st im a t e d f r a c t io n
o f m a t e r ia ls
a va ila b le t o b e
r e c yc le d
30.0%
SUSPENSION of
GLASS AND
PLASTIC
25.0%
20.0%
July 05, 17.5%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
JAN 2005
JUL 2004
JAN 2004
JUL 2003
JAN 2003
JUL 2002
JAN 2002
JUL 2001
JAN 2001
JUL 2000
JAN 2000
JUL 1999
JAN 1999
JUL 1998
JAN 1998
JUL 1997
Where Does it All Go?
Contracts for Processing NYC’s
Recyclables
• DSNY collects recyclables and
delivers them to contracted
processors.
• Different contracts for
processing commingled paper
and commingled metal, glass,
and plastic.
Contracts for Processing NYC’s
Recyclables
•
•
Average $7 per ton revenue
for paper.
Average $50 per ton cost for
commingled
metal/glass/plastic and
beverage cartons “MGP”.
NYC’s Paper Recycling Contracts
Visy Paper Mill
The Visy plant on
Staten Island
receives 160,000
tons of paper per
year, over 40% of the
paper collected for
recycling.
NYC’s Paper Recycling Contracts
Remaining 60% sold to
paper processors
who separate the paper
into various grades.
NYC’s Metal, Glass & Plastic Contract
Sims Metals Marketing
• Major U.S. scrap metal
processor
• Long time processor of
NYC metal
• Current processor of
NYC’s MGP recyclables
and selected as long term
processor.
Sims Waterborne Network
• Hunts Point, Bronx
• Long Island City,
Queens
• Claremont, Jersey City
in New Jersey
Sims Claremont Facility in Jersey City, New Jersey
• Receives MGP
from southern
Manhattan and
Staten Island
• Receives Bronx
MGP by Barge
Waterborne Network for Recycling
• New materials
recovery
facility at the
South
Brooklyn
Marine
Terminal
• Proposed
Marine
Transfer
Station in
Manhattan
Composting Program
• 20,000 tons per year autumn
leaves.
• 6,000 tons per year landscaper
grass and yard waste.
• 2,500 tons per year Christmas
trees.
• 7,000 tons per year Rikers Island
food waste.
• 35,500 tons per year total
Fall Leaf Collection
Program includes
34
of the City’s 59
Districts.
Leaf Composting Operations
Leaves are taken to the
Department’s composting
sites
Food Waste Composting
at Rikers Island
• Rikers Island is the nation’s largest municipal
prison system.
• Self-contained island houses over 17,000 inmates and 7,000
officers.
• Generates over 20 tons of food waste per day.
• In 1996, construction completed of an enclosed,
agitated-bay
composting
system.
Food Waste Composting
at Rikers Island
Finished compost used
for landscaping and
gardening on Rikers
Island
NYC Compost Project
• Compost outreach and education to
residents
and businesses.
• Funded by DSNY, programs are carried
out by staff at the City’s four Botanical
Gardens and Lower East Side Ecology
Center in Manhattan
Electronics Recycling Events
• Sites throughout
the five boroughs
• Accepted:
–
–
–
–
–
Computers
Peripherals
TV’s and other A/V
Batteries
Cell-Phones
Four-fold Increase in Participation 2004 to
2008
Electronics make up only 0.9% of NYC’s
waste stream
…that’s 33,939.8 tons or 67,899,600 pounds a year
Want to Really Make a Difference?
Recycle More
Paper
Paper: the most under-recycled material
"Problems" as Expressed in Tons Sent to Disposal Annually
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
unrecycled
paper
unrecycled
metal
unrecycled unrecycled
glass bottles plastic bottles
and jugs
and jugs
the fact that
we can't
recycle other
numbered
plastics
e-waste
flourescent textiles in the
light bulbs
trash
(186 tons)
styrofoam
plastic
shopping
bags
Organic Wastes: Rotting, Gaseous and
Unwanted
Compostable Under Industrial Conditions
(not in backyard)
compostable
paper, 6.10%
other organics,
9.60%
Yard Trimmings
Food Wastes
compostable paper
other organics
wood furniture
untreated other wood
total
wood furniture,
2.30%
Yard Trimmings,
4.20%
Food Wastes,
17.70%
4.2%
17.7%
6.1%
9.6%
2.3%
0.8%
40.7%
We cannot underestimate the barriers
• Lack of technological
alternatives
• Density (compliance)
• Service provision
(public workforce;
free-market private
sector)
• Facility Siting
Organic = Carbon
Other options only involve siting
because they process organics as
a mass, without separate sorting