Contact: Colleen Roche/Jennifer Chait (212) 788-2958
Specifically, this bill requires the Sanitation Department to phase-in the collection of designated recyclable materials on a weekly basis in all of the City's fifty-nine sanitation districts. This bill represents a compromise between my Administration and the City Council, which in my view is much more reasonable and realistic than previous proposals.
The implementation schedule provided for under Intro. 463 will allow the Department of Sanitation to phase in weekly recycling collection over the next fifteen months in the remaining forty-one sanitation districts not currently receiving such collections, while carefully monitoring the recycling diversion rates.
Because the closure of the Fresh Kills Landfill will occur on December 31, 2001, my Administration is pursuing all viable alternatives to reduce the waste that must be disposed of in the City. It should also be noted that since the enactment of the City's 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 such program in the United States. As such, It serves as a model for many localities nationwide.
For reasons previously stated, I will now sign the bill.