 |
 |
| 
The Department of Sanitation collects the following quantities of recyclables (from NYC residents, agencies, and institutions) and delivers them to private processors under contract with the City:
In addition to its curbside recycling program, the Department also collects fall leaves and Christmas trees for composting. ALSO SEE what to recycle for info on what is collected; see recycling videos for a virtual tour of the recycling process. Sorry, no tours are available at this time.
New York City is fortunate to have a variety of local options to recycle the paper it collects from residents, agencies, and institutions. The Department of Sanitation maintains contracts with various local NYC paper processors that have been in the paper recycling business for generations. The Department currently has paper processing contracts with the following companies:
Approximately half the paper that the Department collects for recycling goes to the first five processors. To keep track of tonnage, Sanitation trucks weigh in before delivering paper. The paper processors then separate the paper into various grades to sell on the open market. The majority of the paper received by these processors is sold for export.
The remaining paper that the Department collects for recycling from Staten Island, Manhattan, and parts of Brooklyn is delivered to a paper mill on Staten Island operated by Pratt Industries USA. To reduce truck traffic, the Department uses barges to transport Manhattan's recyclable paper to this mill. The Pratt paper mill was built between 1995 - 1996, with extensive support from both the City's Economic Development Corporation and the Empire State Development Corporation. This mill was commissioned specifically to handle NYC's recyclable paper, and is one of the world's most technically advanced paper recycling mills. The commingled mix of recyclable papers (newspapers, corrugated cardboard, magazines, and other papers) produce recycled linerboard for corrugated cardboard packaging products. ALSO SEE what happens with staples, twine, window envelopes, or other enclosures in recycled junk mail. Metal, Glass, and Plastic Recyclables
All the metal, glass, and plastic recyclables that the Department collects for recycling goes to Sims Municipal Recycling. Through the City's competitive bidding process, the company was selected as NYC's new long term, 20-year processor for this material and is currently in contract negotiations with the Department of Sanitation. Sims Municipal Recycling uses their waterfront facilities to accept, process, and then transport NYC's recyclables, which minimizes truck traffic on busy city streets. As part of the company's anticipated long-term contract with the City, Sims Municipal Recycling plans to build a new, state-of-the-art materials recovery facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. The completed facility will further minimize truck traffic because it will be capable of receiving barged materials and shipping out processed materials via both barge and rail. To help New Yorkers understand the recycling process, the company plans to construct a visitor education center on the site.
In total, Sanitation collects about 15,000 tons of leaves each fall. During Fall Leaf Composting Collections, leaves are brought to DSNY composting sites run under private contract with WeCare Organics, LLC. The company uses different kinds of equipment to form the leaves into outdoor windrows, which are turned regularly to promote decomposition. It takes approximately nine months to produce finished, high-quality compost from the collected leaves.
Currently operating DSNY composting sites include:
A third DSNY compost site, Spring Creek (on the Brooklyn-Queens border), was constructed by DSNY at Spring Creek Park in an area adjacent to the water treatment facility run by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. This 20-acre facility has not yet received an operating permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and cannot be used for composting at this time. To locate additional sites citywide, NYC’s new Solid Waste Management Plan calls for a Compost Siting Task Force to be formed with representatives appointed by the Mayor, the five Borough Presidents, and City Council. Compost is a crumbly, earthy material that looks and feels like soil. Adding compost to indoor plants, back yards, gardens, and parks improves soil quality, increases plant growth, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and watering.
Since Fall Leaf Composting Collection has been suspended, as of 2008 there is no raw material to create more compost. The 2008 Compost Givebacks were the last Givebacks until sometime in the future after (and if) leaf composting collections are restored. NYC residents are still encouraged to use autumn leaves and food scraps to make their own compost. Visit the NYC Compost Project website to learn more about the composting process, and information on which NYC Compost Project sites sell compost bins at cost for $50. The Department of Sanitation collects about 2,500 tons of Christmas trees every January. Since 1993, budget permitting, these trees are ground into wood chips to be used as mulch, or as a bulking agent to mix with yard waste to produce compost. The Department of Sanitation requests that ornaments,
lights, tinsel, and stands be removed from Christmas trees before they are set
out for collection.
Through MulchFest, sponsored by the Departments of Parks & Recreation and Sanitation, New Yorkers can bring their Christmas trees to designated parks to be chipped on site. Attendees can take home bags of mulch to use on their own plants and yards. For more information on this seasonal program, visit the Parks Department website. |  | |||||||||||||||||
What Happens to Recyclables?
The 
Through the Compost Giveback program, the Department of Sanitation gave away unlimited amounts of finished, top-quality compost made from the leaves collected from NYC residents and institutions, so that they can enjoy the benefits of this recycling program.
At each giveback event, subsidized home compost bins (made with recycled plastic) were also sold so that residents can make their own compost. For more information, see 
|
|
|
|