Contact: Colleen Roche/Jennifer Chait (212) 788-2958
While the intent of Intro. 347-B is to increase overall citywide recycling tonnage, the preliminary results from the Department of Sanitation's current recycling program indicate that weekly recycling collection may not have a significant effect on increasing recycling tonnage. Through pilot programs, the Department of Sanitation has studied the effects of alternate-week recycling versus weekly recycling on the diversion rate. The diversion rate is the percentage of the waste stream that residents separate for recycling.
Based on the findings to date, the Department of Sanitation has confirmed that: (1) recycling growth rates in alternate-week districts have been competitive with weekly districts; and (2) residents in weekly districts comply with recycling rules no better than residents in alternate-week districts.
It should be noted that these pilot programs are ongoing and have been implemented for less than one year. Additionally, the data being collected by the Department from these pilot programs must be analyzed thoroughly in order to use it appropriately to promote better participation and a greater recycling rate. Such an analysis should be a prerequisite to making any decision about adjustments to the frequency of recycling collection citywide. The enactment of Intro. 347-B before completing a comprehensive analysis would be premature and fiscally imprudent.
The implementation of weekly recycling citywide would cost the City approximately $61 million over the next four years. This cost must be weighed against the absence of demonstrated benefits. Once we have more data from the pilot projects, we will be able to assess the effects of weekly recycling on diversion rates and to balance any improvement in participation against the costs.
Moreover, the implementation process described in Intro. 347-B is ambiguous, as it phases in weekly recycling citywide on a district-by-district basis. Such a phase-in sequence would have an inherent risk that many residents would not receive the correct information about the recycling program in their neighborhood, thereby increasing any confusion associated with a schedule change and minimizing the potential for compliance.
It must also be noted that since the inception of the City's mandatory recycling law nearly 10 years ago, New York City has established the most comprehensive and successful residential recycling program of any large city nationwide. The Department of Sanitation provides collection service to approximately three million households. Given the immense population served, housing density, diversity of languages, the level of collection service provided, and the quantity of materials diverted from the municipal waste stream, New York City's residential recycling program is larger in scope and magnitude than any other program in the United States and serves as a model for many localities across the nation. In the past year alone, the City's recycling diversion rate has increased by 25 percent.
For the reasons previously stated, I intend to veto this legislation. However, I will withhold judgment at this time and urge the City Council to reconsider its support of this bill.
I will now turn to the bill's sponsors, other elected officials and then to anyone else who wishes to be heard for or against this legislation.