Budget
City Aims for Zero Waste, but Inks Long-Term Deal with Upstate Landfill
Cole Rosengren |
The $3.3 billion, 20-year plan to send Brooklyn garbage to the Seneca Meadows landfill illustrates the growing costs of burying trash.
The $3.3 billion, 20-year plan to send Brooklyn garbage to the Seneca Meadows landfill illustrates the growing costs of burying trash.
A highly anticipated city study of commercial waste collection has been delayed, putting off any decision about a new franchise zoning system and ensuring that the fight over the industry’s future is far from over.
Many New Yorkers don’t know what happens to that coffee cup after they throw it away, but the ugly truth is slowly being revealed.
A multimedia look at the past, present and future of waste in New York City.
The scene at the former Fresh Kills landfill, of beautiful scenery built about decades of bad trash policy, gives reason for optimism that the city will find a way to deal with the rising costs of managing waste. But it will take a change in mindset, not just policy.
From upstate Seneca County to the banks of the Delaware River, people who live near landfills and trash-burning energy plants are parsing Mayor de Blasio’s “zero waste” pledge—and taking action to reduce the impact of our trash on their lives.
New York is diverting more and more organic material like food waste from landfills to composting projects. The big challenge might not be collecting the stuff, but figuring out where to put it all.
Mayor de Blasio wants to spare residents the hassle of separating paper from glass, metal and plastic. The move will likely boost recycling but its impact on city finances, commercial carters and total waste levels is hard to predict.