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Speeches
Thank you for having me here to day to testify.
New York City is supposed to begin weekly collection of plastic, glass, and metal recyclables on April 1. But with less than a month to go, I see no evidence that a plan is in place.
I am particularly concerned because there has been no public education or public outreach to make New Yorkers aware that they will once again be responsible for sorting their garbage. It should not take a public hearing to get the city to take this responsibility seriously.
The Bloomberg Administration’s attempt to save money by reducing recycling set public awareness back to pre-recycling days. This was a penny-wise-pound-foolish program doomed to fail from the start. Many New Yorkers actually have stopped recycling altogether, costing the city at least $8 million in unrecycled paper – a material that saves the city money. What this means is that in order to effectively reinstate the program, a huge awareness campaign will be necessary.
Effective public awareness campaigns take time to create. And it takes even more time to get the message across to the public. A 2001 Marist survey released by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) found that New York City failed to make the recycling program understood since the recycling law first passed in 1989.
The study found that a majority of the 918 New York City residents questioned were unable to correctly identify 8 of 12 household items as either recyclable or non-recyclable under the City's recycling program.
And only three of the 918 New Yorkers polled in the Marist survey correctly identified all 12 items as either recyclables or non-recyclables as defined by the City.
NRDC recommended that the City scrap its famous ad campaign featuring animated cartoon characters and instead focus on ads teaching New Yorkers the specific recycling collection rules. NRDC also recommended that the City distribute its recycling poster to all New Yorkers annually and take other steps to boost public familiarity with the program's details.
I believe this points to the challenge we have ahead of us in educating the public about recycling. The earlier we launch an awareness campaign, the better.
Everyone agrees that recycling is good for our city. And everyone certainly acknowledges that costs of recycling have gone down. In 1997 it cost $275 dollars more per ton to recycle than to landfill waste. By 2002, the cost had decreased to $46 dollars a ton. In New York City, paper recycling has become more cost effective than using land fills to dispose of paper. While plastic and glass remain less cost effective here, other cities have begun to recycle these products more effectively. And the good news is that the gap in price between landfill and recycling is continually narrowing. As a matter of fact, the Comptroller projected thatin Fiscal Year 2004 recycling metal, glass, plastic, and paper combined would actually cost less than landfilling.
Additionally, new private-sector interest in the recycling program is growing. One company offered to pay the city $5.10 per ton for its metal and plastic recyclables. Now, for the first time in history, the city will generate revenue from recycling these materials. This is particularly good news for a city that produces as much trash as this one does. And it is an environmentally friendly way to deal with our trash.
On Monday, I visited waste transfer stations in Williamsburg and saw firsthand the great human and environmental strains caused by the over 26,000 tons of garbage that move through our streets and neighborhoods every day.
It isn't fair that some of our communities are as overburdened with trash as are the Greenpoint/Williamsburg communities. The pollution caused by the trucks and garbage is so bad that at times during my tour I found it hard to breathe. It is not surprising that asthma levels are high in these neighborhoods.
But this is not just an issue for city residents, it is also an issue for the small businesses we frequent every day. Business owners have contacted my office to say they are concerned about the garbage-related fines they now face. If recycling is reinstated without a proper awareness campaign, the fines issued to these businesses will only increase. The city needs to be clear with its expectations--today--to allow businesses time to prepare for changes tomorrow.
Returning to full recycling is now even more necessary since the mayor's future waste management plan has been put off until at least 2007. That is why I'm concerned by what I have not heard to date, namely, anything to do with an effective consumer-oriented recycling plan that should go into effect on April 1, 2004 .
And that is why I am here today to call on the mayor to take five specific steps.
1) Immediately release a recycling plan for weekly pick up of glass, metal, and plastic recyclables. Last year’s proposal by the Mayor would have drastically shortchanged the outerboroughs. It is imperative that these boroughs not be treated as second class citizens under this plan, that they receive pick-up service as frequently as those Manhattan neighborhoods favored by this Mayor.
2) Use more efficient truck routes so that outer borough pick-ups can occur as frequently as pick-ups here in Manhattan.
3) Set goals and develop measures to increase the percentage of recyclable material that actually gets recycled so that recycling can grow more cost-effective.
4) Initiate a public awareness campaign immediately so that every New Yorker has the opportunity to relearn the rules of recycling.
5) Make a commitment to New Yorkers that recycling is here to stay. A twenty-year recycling contract is the right way to go.
These steps are the right thing to do for our residents and our city. Again I thank this committee, particularly the chair, CM McMahon, for your leadership on this issue.
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