Tenants in Commercial Buildings

Businesses are required to provide recycling containers for their employees, and to separate designated materials. For more information, see recycling requirements for NYC businesses.

Usually the building management makes arrangements with a private carter for removal of recycling and waste for the entire building. Some private carters assert they are separating materials for recycling after collection. According to the NYC Commercial Recycling Law, however, all businesses are required to source separate their recycling, which means no mixing of trash and recyclables and "sorting it out afterwards" (sometimes referred to as post-collection separation of recyclables).

Check with the building management to find out if their carter is recycling; otherwise the building must find a different carter or private recycler. Sometimes individual tenants hire their own recyclers. See disposal guidelines for more info.

Regardless of your building's recycling arrangements, every NYC company is required by law to maintain separate labeled recycling bins for paper. This increases the amount of paper that is captured in any system. Food service establishments must also recycle bottles, cans, and foil. See what to recycle for NYC businesses for more info.

If you need help setting up recycling in your company, you can seek assistance from various recycling consultants.

If you don’t believe that a particular commercial building, food service establishment, or company is recycling, call the NYC Citizens’ Service Center at 311 or report a commercial recycling violation  on the Sanitation website.