Recycling in NYC: We Need to Do More

T. Gorman Reilly

Illustration by NYC Department of Sanitation, Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling. 

The amount of solid waste that New York City generates is overwhelming: 7 million tons per year. On a daily basis, Manhattan alone accounts for 1,975 tons of residential waste—or just plain garbage. Commercial waste from office buildings, restaurants and retail sites accounts for another 2,200 tons. The comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP), enacted by the city and approved by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, has been crafted to take on this enormous challenge in the most efficient and environmentally sound manner. Thus, New York City’s SWMP is relying in a big way on a stepped up recycling effort. In fact, Mayor Bloomberg announced earlier this year a goal of doubling the existing recycling diversion rate by 2017. 

Let’s define our terms. “Diversion rate” refers to the amount of separated recyclables collected as a percentage of the total amount of waste put out on the sidewalk. “Capture rate” refers to the amount of recyclables actually collected as a percentage of the total amount of recyclables that could be separated out and collected. The city’s current capture rate of 41% means that 59% of recyclable materials is being thrown into black trash bags and will never be recycled to another use. 

The current diversion rate of the city’s residential waste is barely 15%. At one point in the 1990s it peaked at 19%. The Department of Sanitation’s goal is to approach an optimum diversion rate of 36%, which assumes a 100% capture rate. 

The only way to improve this anemic capture rate—and thereby directly increase the diversion rate—is to go to the source, i.e., each and every household in the city of New York. Thus, in each home or apartment residents need to have a clear understanding of what can be recycled and what cannot. In New York City, the answer is relatively simple, but “attention must be paid.” 

In short, there are two streams of recyclables—the Green and the Blue. The color Green has been assigned to paper & cardboard. It includes newspapers, magazines, flyers, phone books, paperbacks, corrugated and smooth cardboard, cardboard tubes, cardboard packaging, file folders, paper, envelopes, shredded paper, paper bags, pizza boxes (free of food residues), etc. In short, all things paper and cardboard go into the Green Bin. Of course, for every rule there are exceptions. These are some of the things that should not be placed in the Green Paper & Cardboard Bin: Chinese take-out cartons, soiled paper cups and plates, tissue, paper towels, napkins and packaging for most frozen or refrigerated products. 

The Blue Bin is reserved for beverage cartons, bottles, cans, metal and foil. There is real value in recycled metal, whether it be metal cans, aluminum food containers, metal caps, cleaned foil or discarded cooking pans. Glass, principally bottles and jars, is always welcome; but, glassware, panes of glass, mirrors and light bulbs are not. The rule for plastics is simple—only bottles and jugs. If it’s not a bottle or jug, toss it into the trash. Thus, do not put out for recycling: plastic caps, yogurt cups, any plastic food container or cup, plastic wrapping, plastic shopping bags, styrofoam and plastic rings for six-packs. 

The best way to determine what is recyclable and what is not is through visualization. Fortunately, the Department of Sanitation has prepared a graphic outline of Green and Blue recyclable items. It can be downloaded at http://on.nyc.gov/RGGljL.

To read the complete fall 2012 issue of CIVITAS News, visit http://civitasnyc.org/civitas-newsletters/