The garbage mystery: New Yorkers are throwing out a lot less – and not because they’re recycling more
The waste mystery: New Yorkers throw away much less – and not because they recycle more
- Recycling is down from pre-pandemic figures, as is the amount of waste in the city
- New rules coming into force are also likely to lead to fewer rubbish bags on the streets
- READ MORE: Horror as a severed human leg sticks out of the trash
Recycling across New York City has declined, but the Department of Sanitation is still collecting less trash this year than in the past four years.
Recent numbers indicate that the DSNY collected 5.6% less waste in 2023 than in 2022, and 2.6% less compared to 2019.
It’s a bit of a mystery and while some will undoubtedly blame New York’s growing population of hungry rats for feeding on more waste than ever, the leading theories include population decline and increased composting.
The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, has promised to take garbage bags off the streets once and for all – partly with the rats in mind.
Adams declared at a news conference Tuesday, “Our streets will look cleaner, they will smell cleaner, and not just in the borough of Manhattan, but in all five boroughs.”
Eric Adams has promised to take garbage bags off the streets of New York once and for all
The mayor will oblige all companies to deposit their waste in containers
The DSNY has been collecting less and less trash over the past four years and is also focusing on cleaning up highways and graffiti
His next step is to introduce an obligation for all companies to deposit waste in containers, which will come into effect in March 2024.
One reason for the reduced waste may be New York’s declining population.
Because fewer people live in the city, there will be less waste on the streets.
But another major driver is that the amount of food scraps and yard waste now being composted doubled between fiscal years 2020 and 2023.
All the discarded fruits, vegetables and leftover food that once ended up in the landfill is now used to create compost and renewable energy.
Helping this cause are the city’s new Smart Composting bins, which can be accessed through an app: NYC Compost.
‘About a third of what New Yorkers throw away is compostable, so we expect that curbside composting will continue to make significant dents in our diversion rates as we expand the program to all five boroughs,” said Vincent Gragnani, spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation.
Only on Staten Island the food waste is actually composted in the same municipality.
Some of the organic waste from Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx may find its way to a composting plant in New Jersey, while the rest is “digested” by bacteria into biogas, an environmentally friendly, renewable energy source.
The DSNY collected 5.6% less waste this year than in 2022, and is down 2.6% compared to 2019 waste collections, according to the mayor’s management report
Recycling bins can be found all over New York City
Eric Adams and the DSNY hope to achieve long-standing environmental goals for New York City through the new trash rule that takes effect in March 2024
The program is not just about keeping the city streets cleaner. Adams is also on a mission to take down ‘Public Enemy Number One’: rats, whose growing population is feasting on the city’s garbage.
He said, “New Yorkers don’t have to dodge piles of trash or scurrying rats while walking.”
The container requirement is also intended to help prepare for winter storms, which have hit New York State hard during the 2022-2023 season.