Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2000

Release #477-00

 
Contact: Sunny Mindel / Michael Anton (212) 788-2958

MAYOR GIULIANI SIGNS BILL AUTHORIZING SUBMISSION OF MODIFIED
COMPREHENSIVE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN TO THE NEW YORK STATE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Remarks By Mayor Giuliani at Public Hearing on Local Laws

The first bill before me today is Introductory Number 282-A, sponsored by Speaker Vallone and Council Member Michels, in conjunction with my Administration. This bill would authorize the submission of a modification to the City's Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan governs how the City disposes of its municipal waste. In order to modify the plan, the City must obtain the approval of the State DEC.

The Solid Waste Management Plan modification that we submit today is truly historic, and will have a lasting impact not only upon the City, but also upon the entire region. It will allow the City to close the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island by the end of next year, fulfilling a promise that I, along with Borough President Molinari and Governor Pataki, made to Staten Islanders and all New Yorkers in 1996. The modified plan will bring an end to municipal waste disposal within New York City and make each borough responsible for its own garbage, ending the unfair burden that for fifty years was shouldered solely by the people of Staten Island.

All of the waste collected by the Department of Sanitation will be transferred out of the City by an environmentally sound, operationally efficient and cost-effective barge and rail-based system. Neighborhoods will no longer be beset by dozens of trucks rumbling through their streets to cart waste out of the City.

We will build a state-of-the-art barge unloading facility in Linden, New Jersey that will receive approximately 6,500 tons per day of barged City garbage, containerize it and then transport it by rail to disposal sites. The plans for the Linden facility enjoy the support of the City of Linden and Union County, New Jersey.

Under the new Solid Waste Management Plan, it will be more critical than ever for the City to reduce waste. With that goal in mind, we have aggressively expanded waste prevention and recycling programs. The array of materials eligible to be recycled has widened; curbside collection has increased; education and outreach efforts have doubled; and we have stepped-up enforcement. As a result, the amount of residential waste recycled has increased from 13% in 1996 to nearly 21% in 2000, a jump of over 60% in just four years.

While waste prevention initiatives are underway in many City agencies, the new Solid Waste Management Plan will include a number of new waste prevention proposals, including a pilot program to increase recycling in communities that have not traditionally recycled eligible waste. We also plan to create a City Environmental Purchasing Unit, which will work to increase the City's purchases of recycled-content and waste reducing products.

The modification that we submit to the State today marks the beginning of a new era in New York City, and signals the final days of this City being home to one of the world's largest landfills. While the other boroughs closed their landfills over the years, Fresh Kills had grown so large that many claimed it was visible from outer space. By closing the final chapter of the Fresh Kills Landfill, our actions today will enhance the quality-of-life across an entire borough, city and region for the future.

For the reasons previously stated, I will now sign the bill.

 

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