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Photos: Step Inside Brooklyn's Massive New Recycling Center
By
Scott Heins
Published Dec 13, 2013
Modified Dec 14, 2013
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By
Scott Heins
Published Dec 13, 2013
Modified Dec 14, 2013
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New Yorkers produce roughly 11,000 tons of waste everyday. Go ahead and let that sink in. Stare long and hard at that plastic bag your takeout lunch arrived in. Hold it, gently. It's going to look and feel that way for a long, long time as it never decomposes under a giant pile of dirt in a landfill.
The Lords of our City, and a few enterprising businesses, however, are doing what they can to help create an environmentally sustainable New York. Yesterday in Brooklyn Deputy Mayor Cas Halloway, Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty, and Sims Municipal Recycling gave a tour of the city's newest, biggest, and most sustainable recycling center.
The $110 million Sunset Park facility is still partially under construction, but is already processing recyclable metal, plastic, and glass from all the city's boroughs, turning the trash into raw material that Sims can then sell in the commodities market. The buildings are made from 99 percent recycled steel and are powered in part by what is now the largest solar panel array in New York City. Rail and barge access to the center will also lessen the number of recycling trucks needed transport recyclables.
At a press conference yesterday Commissioner Doherty called landfills "the worst way to get rid of waste," and reiterated the city's 2017 goal of recycling 30% of all trash. When it hits full capacity, the new center will process all of the reusable glass, metal, and plastic collected throughout the city. Take a look around!
Tagged
brooklyn
infrastructure
recycling
sunset park
waste management
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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