May 30th, 2008

By John DeFore

In 2002, the City of New York was recycling about a fifth of its waste, but some in the Bloomberg administration thought the program cost too much. In response to a budget crisis, the city stopped collecting glass and plastic (they continued paper and metal collection), arguing they’d save $40 million over the next year.

Happily, that policy was reversed in 2004 — partly because the savings turned out to be nowhere near the $40 million estimate. Wanting to establish that this was the right move economically as well as environmentally — not only for NYC, but for other cities that might consider trimming recycling programs — the Natural Resources Defense Council (working in conjunction with the local Department of Sanitation and other groups) commissioned an ambitious study to attach bottom-line figures comparing recycling with conventional trash disposal. Turns out recycling makes sense either way you look at it.

The report (summarized here, downloadable here) found that the cost of recycling and trash disposal are currently close to equal (disposal is $17 cheaper per ton, or 6%). But recycling will soon become a better deal: Because of the rising cost of landfilling and exporting waste, the study’s authors believe disposal will actually be more expensive than recycling “in no more than five to six years.”

Unfortunately, the city hasn’t quite returned to that 20% recycling number since weekly pick-ups resumed; city officials put the current figure at 18%. But Mayor Bloomberg has reasons beyond the budget to urge New Yorkers to recycle more avidly: Unsurprisingly, the study also demonstrated that “recycling significantly reduces the city’s global warming pollution – making it an important contributor to the Mayor’s PlaNYC 2030 goal of reducing global warming pollution by 30 percent.”

For more information on recycling in New York City see these website pages for the NYC Wasteless program.

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