E.A. Crunden reports for WasteDive
New York City Council members are under pressure from constituents to salvage the city’s organics recycling programs, a victim of budget cuts due to fallout from the new coronavirus.
During an hour-and-a-half long committee meeting last week on the city’s sanitation budget, multiple council members questioned the decision to cut the curbside organics collections and other efforts, arguing they are key to achieving 2030 “zero waste” goals aimed at combating climate change.
“I’ve received the most amount of emails and calls relating to organics recycling,” said Council Member Antonio Reynoso, chairman of the sanitation committee, who pushed Kathryn Garcia, commissioner of New York’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY), on the decision.
Garcia called the choice to suspend curbside collection until June 30, 2021 “just really awful,” but asserted the program generates only $50,000 annually at present and doesn’t pay for itself.
Belinda Mager, DSNY’s director of communications, confirmed to Waste Dive the department “is dealing with changing budget realities.” Out of $106 million in cuts to DSNY programs, $21.1 million is hitting curbside organics collection. Seven city compost project partner organization efforts — part of the 27-year-old New York City Compost Project — have also been suspended for the 2021 fiscal year, freeing up $3.5 million, along with $2.9 million in annual recycling outreach funding for GrowNYC. Those cuts discontinue funding to GrowNYC’s zero waste programs, resulting in a loss of 32 full-time jobs and 50 part-time jobs.
“The Department of Sanitation has long supported our recycling partners – they play a crucial role in their communities and helping the city move towards zero waste,” wrote Mager via email. “While our budget cuts were painful, and not taken lightly, we do look forward to a day in the future when funding for all Sanitation-related programs can be restored.”
A new campaign to save compost
Organics recycling proponents hope they can lessen the impacts from some of the cuts. A coalition consisting of a number of local groups have banded together under #SaveOurCompost, which includes support from the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, ALIGN NY, Big Reuse, and the solid waste advisory boards for Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan.
The coalition has had some success so far, garnering more than 15,000 signatures on a petition arguing organics recycling is essential for the city. And the group is supporting efforts such as the Community Organics and Recycling Empowerment (CORE) Act, which would create 177 drop-off sites for organics and electronics waste. The coalition is seeking to preserve around $7 million for community organics recycling and curbside e-waste, focusing on the smaller cuts suggested to the budget.
That relatively small amount of funding would, proponents argue, go a long way towards filling the void left in the wake of the curbside cuts. It would also help GrowNYC continue to operate its 76 food scrap drop-off sites, which provide the feedstock for six community composting facilities.
“It’s not going to replace tonnage that curbside was doing, but [it’s] going to give people an option,” said Justin Wood, director of organizing and strategic research for NYLPI.
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