Still More Dangerous:
New York City’s Commercial Garbage Companies Continue to Put Workers and the Public at Risk
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As New York City moves forward with implementation of the Commercial Waste Zones Law (Local Law 199 of 2019), a
Wilson Perez, a former Queens County Carting worker, has direct experience of many of the problems with the private sanitation industry. Whenever he complained to the company owner about his long shifts, he was given two choices: “work or go
New York City has an opportunity to create thousands of good-paying jobs by raising the city’s low recycling rate and investing in recycling and composting infrastructure. Leading green cities around the country, including Seattle and San Francisco, have 60% more
Decades of lax regulatory policies have permitted commercial waste haulers and facilities to prioritize their bottom line above the environment, community health, and worker welfare. Haulers bypass close by transfer stations with available capacity in favor of inefficient and overlapping
This report details six evidence-based recommendations for how we can ensure that pro-recycling policies are also pro-business.
The Transform Don’t Trash NYC coalition believes that as the city expands and enforces its recycling regime, it must also create
efficiency, price
New York City’s private sanitation companies operate garbage trucks with high rates of faulty brakes, bad tires, broken signals, and unsecured cargo, which endanger workers, pedestrians, and other street users.
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Transform Don't Trash NYC is proud to premiere “Where does NYC’s commercial trash go,” a short animated video that looks at how the unregulated commercial waste industry in New York City is endangering workers, destroying the environment and overburdening low-income communities and communities of color with waste. The coalition partnered with the Center for Urban Pedagogy and animator Cole Hannan, along with Teamsters Joint Council 16 members Allan and Plinio and community members from The POINT CDC to produce the video.
Read MoreIn interviews with more than 500 business owners conducted for this report, one theme became clear: the commercial carting industry needs to change. Despite a major overhaul two decades ago, intended to eradicate the organized crime associated with the industry, standards to ensure that private haulers process waste sustainably, transparently, and at a fair price are greatly lacking.
Read MoreNew York City’s sprawling commercial waste system performs significantly worse on recycling and efficiency than previously believed. Under an inefficient and ad-hoc arrangement that developed over the past several decades, hundreds of private hauling companies collect waste from restaurants, stores, offices, and other businesses nightly and truck it to dozens of transfer stations and recycling facilities concentrated in a handful of low-income communities of color. This waste is then transferred to long-haul trucks and hauled to landfills as far away as South Carolina. Previously unpublished studies and new data reveal just how chaotic this system is and make clear that fundamental reform is needed if we are to follow through on the City’s recently adopted commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050.
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