All NYC businesses required to containerize trash
Roughly 20 million pounds of trash will be tucked away in containers instead of in trash bags piled up on New York City sidewalks next year. As part of the latest effort to curb the city’s rat problem, all businesses will be required to put garbage in lidded containers beginning next March, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday. About 25 percent of the city’s businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores as well as chain businesses, are currently mandated to containerize trash; when the newest proposed rule takes effect, the requirement will apply to 100 percent of businesses.
Under the rule announced by Adams on Tuesday, which takes effect March 1, 2024, businesses can choose any type of container they want, but it must have a lid and secure sides. Containers may be stored inside or within three feet of the property line, according to the city.
This summer, the city required all food-related businesses and chain businesses with five or more locations to put trash and compostable material into secure containers rather than directly on the street. According to Adams, his administration’s rat mitigation efforts (pushing trash pick-up back to 8 p.m., hiring a rat czar) have led to a 20 percent drop in rat sightings this summer compared to last year.
“We’ve declared that rats are Public Enemy Number One — but we’re not stopping there; we’re also going after the black trash bags that litter our streets, aiding and abetting rodents,” Adams said.
“That’s why, starting next spring, we’re requiring every New York City business to put out their trash in containers. That’s 20 million pounds of black bags and rat buffets off our streets — every single day. Our streets will look cleaner and smell cleaner across all five boroughs, and New Yorkers won’t have to dodge trash mountains or scurrying rats as they’re walking.”
The next step toward full trash containerization in the city is to address the 24 million pounds of garbage collected from residential buildings each day. This month a $5.7 million pilot program launched in a 12-block stretch of Hamilton Heights that includes large, shared bins for residential trash that will be emptied six days per week.
An analysis by the city’s Department of Sanitation in May found containerization is possible on 89 percent of city streets with residential properties, but would require the elimination of about 150,000 parking spaces, which amounts to just 10 percent of all curb space on blocks with residential buildings.
“The notion that the greatest city in the world could not move its trash into wheelie bins was always patently absurd. But that’s the type of thinking that allowed the rats to thrive and our streets to reek for over 50 years,” DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
“In less than one year since the effort began, the Adams administration will have moved half of all of New York City’s trash — nearly 20 million pounds a day — from black bags into bins. And we’re going hard after the rest.”
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