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Long overdue reform of NYC private trash collection hits another speed bump
By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 14, 2023
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By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 14, 2023
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New York City’s yearslong effort to overhaul how trash is collected from businesses has hit another bump in the road.
A 2019 law requires the sanitation department to create 20 “commercial waste zones,” and assign as many as three private haulers as the only companies that can pick up garbage from businesses in each area. The new regime was meant to crack down on duplicative routes and safety issues around the current system.
The program's rollout has already faced years of delays — and now an auditing error revealed on Tuesday has caused further problems, Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a City Council hearing.
The sanitation department's system initially had errors in ranking applications from garage hauling companies that put in bids to win coveted private trash pickup rights in each zone, Tisch said.
She blamed the problem on Amsterdam-based consulting firm Arcadis. The sanitation department hired the company for $8 million to consult on commercial waste zones, city records show.
Representatives from Arcadis declined to comment on the company’s contract with the city.
Tisch said the error was identified “very early on in the negotiation process.” The application reviews with the private haulers were paused while the problem was resolved, and officials said the issue didn’t cost the department any additional money.
But the hiccup marks yet another snag in a fraught process to reign in one of the city’s most notorious industries.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso — who pushed through the 2019 law mandating commercial waste zones as a city councilmember — said he was frustrated by the program's slow rollout.
“Implementation of Commercial Waste Zones [CWZ] is on track to be three years late – and New York City can’t afford to wait any longer,” Reynoso wrote in a statement. “Every day that CWZ implementation is delayed is another day New York City goes without essential reforms to the private sanitation industry, reforms that will lead to cleaner air, greater worker protections, and safer streets. Most important now is that we waste no more time and get the CWZ program up and running as quickly as possible.”
Reynoso drafted the legislation following a series of fatal crashes caused by private garbage truck drivers who were assigned to routes that spanned several boroughs and, in many cases, took more than 12 hours to complete.
A 2021 report from the city found at least 43 people died and 107 others were injured from crashes involving commercial garbage trucks from 2010 to 2019.
The city previously planned to finalize bids from private trash collectors on each zone last year, and to begin transitioning to the program during the first half of 2023.
In February, Tisch told lawmakers her team was still negotiating with the private haulers — and said the program’s rollout had been pushed back until the second half of 2024.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
sanitation
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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