Environmental Initiatives
New York City (NYC)
Recycling and Waste Removal
Recycling and Waste Removal
Using recycled materials to make new products saves energy and other
resources, reduces greenhouse gases and industrial pollution and
decrease deforestation and damage to ecosystems. NYC makes substantial
efforts to reduce its impact on the environment. The Recycling Program
operated by the Department of Sanitation since November 1986, is an
integral part of these efforts.
The primary goal of the Department's recycling collection operations is
to reduce the amount of waste that must be exported. The Department's
recycling collection operation consists of several programs: curbside
collection, containerized collection, school night truck collections,
bulk metal recycling, tire disposal, special waste sites, leaf and
Christmas tree collection, and chlorofluorocarbon (C.F.C.) evacuation.
The Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling (BWPRR) focuses on
encouraging New Yorkers to reduce waste, reuse goods whenever possible,
and recycle. BWPRR is also responsible for marketing recyclables and
educating the general public about recycling, composting, and waste
prevention.
Efforts include composting the City's organic waste and offering compost
education through the NYC Compost Project in partnership with the City's
botanical gardens. The NYC Office of Recycling Outreach and Education
(OROE) also offers a variety of services and programs to teach and
assist New Yorkers to be environmentally responsible. The efforts are
carried out through Residential Recycling Assistance, Event Recycling
Assistance and Special Waste Collections (for more detail on recycling
see following sections).
NYC residents produce 12,000 tons of waste every day. This waste is
buried in the landfills, burned or recycled into new products. Many of
NYC's landfills are filled. What many city residents are unaware of is
that prior to the landfills that filled in lower Manhattan throughout
the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, its boundaries extended only as far
as Pearl Street to the east, Fort Clinton to the south, and Greenwich
Street to the west. The boundaries have expanded 900 feet or more from
these areas. As sea trade in New York increased, more piers and docks
were needed. The first landfill was put in place in 1692 to service the
city's growing seaside economy.It expanded lower Manhattan to add
several new piers. Over centuries, as new landfills were added, the
shoreline of lower Manhattan changed into what we can see on the map of
Manhattan today.
In the mid-20th century, however, the expansion of Manhattan by landfill
suddenly stopped. Because of the rise of air travel, the passenger
shipping industry, once a main stay in the New York economy, was dying.
The halt in the building of new landfills continued until 1972, when
construction on Battery Park City commenced. Using material dug up from
the construction of the World Trade Center, Battery Park City, the last
great landfill project, was constructed to help rejuvenate the
debilitated shipping areas of lower Manhattan. By 2001, construction
crews had used over 1.2 million cubic yards of dirt to create 90 new
acres of land for Manhattan.
The techniques used to construct landfills have varied throughout the
centuries. During the 17th century, a technique called cribbing was
used, in which many logs were tied together and sunk into the landfill
to prevent it from falling apart. When logs were hard to find, ships
were sometimes sunk instead. This continued until the early 20th century
when dirt from subway construction was put into cellular cofferdams,
which allowed for much quicker construction of landfills.
Many landmarks of Manhattan are located on landfill, including the World
Financial Center, the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, Battery Park City,
the FDR Drive, the South Street Seaport, Ellis Island, and Rikers
Island.
At present, most of Manhattan's waste is incinerated in NJ, at a waste
energy facility. Properly separated paper waste is recycled locally or
is processed for further recycling overseas. Glass, metal and plastic
are sent to New Jersey, processed and then passed down to various
recycling markets. Non-recyclable waste is packed and hauled on trucks
to the landfills in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia. Most of these
landfills are already near or at capacity. Landfills are responsible for
36 percent of all methane emissions in the U.S., one of the most potent
contributors to global warming. NYC Residents currently recycle only 17
percent of their total waste - half of what they could be recycling.
Plastic film, such as supermarket bags, comprises 7.5 percent of total
waste, while clothing and textiles make up 5.7 percent of total waste.
Paper recycling makes money for NYC - it nets approximately $7.5 million
after the costs of collection. However, more than 90 percent of printing
and writing paper still comes from virgin tree fiber. Exporting NYC
garbage to other communities cost city's taxpayers $290 million in 2007
and was estimated to rise to $5.7 million the following year. The cost
of collection is in addition to the cost of export.
Food scraps and yard waste make up 22 percent of NYC's waste. This can
be composted and used as a cost-effective, nutrient -rich, organic
alternative to chemical fertilizers. When NYC collects trees, food
scraps and yard waste for composting, it saves money by creating its own
soil for landscaping.
Each year diesel trucks carry Manhattan's garbage for 7.8 million miles
- the equivalent of driving 312 times around the earth. Currently, there
are more than 4,500 recycled-content products available.