Stop Trashing on Brooklyn!
The Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) was passed by the City in 2006 with the goal of taking nearly 6 million truck miles off our streets and ensuring garbage equity by 2013. It called for each borough handling its fair share of garbage. Despite this, New York City currently produces 35,000 tons of garbage:
- Williamsburg and Greenpoint handle 9,163 tons of garbage per day.
- Manhattan processes zero tons of garbage while sending 5,479 tons to Brooklyn.
There is NO strategy for commercial garbage collectors to use barge and rail stations and for reducing the amount of waste handled in overburdened communities. It is almost 2013, and we have only seen an increase in waste processing in North Brooklyn.
This issue is further compounded by the fact that while actual processing is at historic levels, permitted capacity (i.e. the maximum amount allowed for a transfer station or receive in one day) is at even higher levels. The following graph shows non-organic waste handled in Community Board 1:
This graph demonstrates that of the 21,268 tons that the City has permitted to handle waste, only 9,163 is used. At anytime, we could see an increase of 12,105 tons of garbage trucked through our streets. Another way to look at this is we could see an increase of truck trips from 2,324 to 5,402 using North Brooklyn’s full permitted capacity.
Garbage is here to stay, but WE CAN reduce the amount trucked through our streets. City Councilmember Diana Reyna is currently crafting legislation that would close the gap between the waste allowed in our community and what is currently handled. In Brooklyn alone, the potential legislation would eliminate 6,200 tons of waste, 1,032 collection truck trips, and 538 long-haul truck trips every single day.
Please join us in our advocacy to take the burden of garbage out of our community and improve our quality of life. For more information, contact Courtney Renken at crenken@stnickalliance.org or 718-388-2233 ext. 124 or Malcolm Sanborn-Hum at Msanbornhum@council.nyc.gov or 718-963-3141.
