By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive, Published June 23, 2021
New York’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) recently disclosed 48 companies provided responsive submissions to Part I of a request for proposals to service new commercial waste zones. Those companies are now eligible to bid on Part II, with detailed service plans, when it is released in “approximately the next two months.”
Waste Management is the highest-profile newcomer, along with Winters Bros. Waste Systems based on Long Island. Almost all of the market’s active companies participated, including Waste Connections, Action Environmental Services (a subsidiary of Interstate Waste Systems), Cogent Waste Solutions, Royal Waste Services, and others. Third-party service providers Recycle Track Systems and Rubicon also qualified.
After DSNY experienced notable budget cuts during the pandemic, lead consultant Arcadis has returned to assist with the implementation process and additional resources are anticipated. Updated FY22 budget proposals call for $3.96 million in new commercial waste funding, followed by $5.78 million in FY23. This increase could lead to as many as 38 staff members working on implementation by the end of FY23, up from only a few currently.
This pending system, spurred by a 2019 law, will be the largest shift for the city’s commercial waste market since the 1990s.
Currently, all residential waste is managed by DSNY and haulers licensed by the Business Integrity Commission operate in an open market system to collect commercial waste throughout the five boroughs. Under this new system, the city will be divided into 20 geographic zones with up to three commercial waste haulers each. Five citywide contracts will also be awarded for containerized waste service. Contracts are expected to run for 10 years, with optional extensions.
“This is a significant milestone in the department’s process for moving towards it commercial waste zone system,” said David Biderman, CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America.
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