If you like what you read here – join over 60 small businesses across NYC that have endorsed Transform Don’t Trash!

NYC’s small businesses loose out in the city’s private waste system.  The industry operates like the Wild Wild West.  Over 90 carting companies criss-cross our neighborhoods each night, with little oversight.

– 61% of NYC’s small businesses do not have a contract with their hauler. This leaves them with little leverage other than switching haulers, which is very difficult in some neighborhoods.

– Small businesses are faced with disproportionately higher rates than larger ones, and are often subject to unpredictable price hikes.

– 90% of small businesses play a flat rate for garbage collection, regardless of how much waste they create.

– Businesses have to separate their recyclables, but carters continue to mix recyclable and regular waste together.  The private recycling rate in NYC is just 22% at most, compared with a 35% national average and up to 77% in some cities.

– When haulers leave waste strewn across the streets there is no accountability for picking it up, because so many trucks come through each neighborhood.  On one five-block stretch near Rockefeller Center for example, 27 garbage companies stop at 86 businesses.

“My hauler told me there would be a 20 – 30% increase last year, but then it doubled – and now my bill is $3,000 a month!”
Geronimo Diaz, Yayo’s Restaurant, Park Slope, Brooklyn

The good news is that reforms are underway!

The city is implementing a commercial waste zoning system.  Haulers will bid for city contracts which will hold them to high customer service, environmental and worker standards.  Done right, the many benefits will include:

+ Fair and transparent hauling rates
+ Stronger oversight so it’s easier to submit complaints
+ Customers can “right size” their service so they only pay for what they generate
+ Stronger enforcement of recycling and investment in recycling infrastructure
+ Improved wage and safety standards for waste workers
+ Creation of new jobs in the recycling industries
+ Improved air quality and street safety.

TAKE ACTION!

Endorse Transform Don’t Trash! Join the many small businesses across the city that support our goals, including transparent and fair collection rates, increased recycling, and reduced truck traffic on our streets.

Get in touch to share your carting stories: contact@transformdonttrashnyc.org.

Learn more in our two reports, “Not at Your Service – A look at how New York City’s Commercial Waste System is Failing its Small Businesses”, and “Reforming for a Better Deal – How to Align Cost Savings, Sustainability and Stability in NYC’s Commercial Waste System.”

And know your rights as a small business – share this with others along your block.