Most of the food scraps and yard waste collected by the city isn’t getting composted. Instead, it’s being turned into fuel to heat people’s homes—and that’s not actually great for the environment, climate advocates say.
Two years after the passage of Local Law 18—intended to overhaul street vending regulations and add hundreds of additional licenses to the market each year—councilmembers are weighing another package of changes, including one bill that would lift the cap on licenses altogether.
Recycling rates around longtime existing requirements—which ask residents to separate paper, plastics, metal and glass from the rest of their trash—have failed to improve over the last decade. Getting New Yorkers to comply with yet another set of rules could be an uphill battle, experts say.
En el primer trimestre de este año, el Departamento de Protección al Consumidor y al Trabajador (DCWP por sus siglas en inglés) de la ciudad emitió 414 multas a vendedores ambulantes en la ciudad. La agencia ya no lidera la inspección de vendedores desde el 1 de abril, fecha en que el Departamento de Sanidad (DSNY por sus siglas en inglés) empezó a hacerse cargo de estas funciones.
City Limits takes a multimedia look at how food waste is repurposed at the Department of Sanitation’s 33-acre composting facility in the Fresh Kills section of Staten Island. The site is part of New York City’s effort to operate “the nation’s largest composting program” and limit the climate impact of its waste sector, which accounts for 4 percent of citywide emissions.
La nueva oficina de investigación de Venta Ambulante del Departamento de Sanidad tendrá casi 40 empleados, frente a los 14 inspectores de vendedores de la configuración actual del Departamento de Protección del Consumidor y del Trabajador (DCWP por sus siglas en inglés). A los vendedores les preocupa que el cambio pueda penalizar aún más a su sector, que ha experimentado un reciente aumento de las infracciones municipales, como informó City Limits.
While the policy is handed down by the mayor, an array of New Yorkers—from everyday residents to top city officials to nonprofit service providers—play a role in recommending locations for sweeps, according to hundreds of internal emails reviewed by City Limits.
‘Mayor Adams has taken on the admirable challenge of promoting plant-based diets because of their health benefits to individuals. In many ways, composting and healthy eating go hand-in-hand, improving human health and the well-being of the environment around us. To be successful, both also require a shift in our thinking.’
Last week, the city started curbside pick-ups in additional districts in Manhattan, Brooklyn and one in The Bronx. The service, which was put on hold throughout the pandemic, resumed this fall based on areas that saw the most residents sign up for it.
The program, which has been on hold since May 2020, kicks off again Monday in four Brooklyn neighborhoods as a budget report notes high costs to sustain it.
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