NYC Trash-Hauling Industry To Get Major Reforms

NEW YORK — New York City's deadly trash carting industry is in for a major overhaul under a landmark bill that aims to protect both workers and the environment.

The legislation the City Council approved Wednesday will allow private carters to pick up garbage in so-called commercial waste zones instead of having trucks crisscross the city on grueling, circuitous routes, officials say.

The bill, approved 34-14, will bring major reforms to an industry that has killed dozens of workers and others in recent years while reducing unsafe driving and pollution from aging trucks, its supporters say.

"Today, we are putting an end to the private carting industry’s horrific practices and the devastating impacts they have had on workers, community members, and our environment," said Council Member Antonio Reynoso, a Brooklyn Democrat who pushed for the bill throughout his six years in office.

The city will follow Los Angeles's lead in creating a zoned trash pickup system by implementing the measure, which drew aggressive opposition from the industry it seeks to rein in along with some council members who argued it will harm small businesses.

The new rules will eliminate competition, drive up prices, make service worse and potentially kill dozens of small companies as the city's Department of Sanitation takes control of all commercial trash pickup in the five boroughs, opponents say.

"Just like when Los Angeles eliminated competition as the basis for this essential service, no choice, price increases and declining service will become very real to New York’s businesses and industries, with questionable environmental benefits," said Kendall Christiansen, the executive director of New Yorkers for Responsible Waste Management, a carting industry trade group.

While the city picks up trash from residential buildings, officials say more than 90 private carters haul garbage away from businesses and construction sites. (Christiansen put the number of firms at about 35.) The companies generally serve businesses all across the city, putting pressure on fatigued workers to finish long routes as quickly as possible in large trucks that frequently speed and run red lights, officials have said.

The results can be deadly. Some 82 percent of waste-worker deaths nationwide in 2016 occurred in the private sector, according to ProPublica, which documented the 2017 death of Mouctar Diallo, a Bronx worker who was run over and killed after falling off a truck.

Under the new system, the Department of Sanitation will divide the city into at least 20 zones that will be served by as many as three carters each, according to the council. That's different from Los Angeles, where 11 zones are each served by a single company. Five firms will be also selected to pick up large containers from waste transfer stations, city officials said.

Companies will have to submit proposals to participate in the program showing they will support its goals of improving worker safety, cutting emissions, improving customer service and reducing the number of miles traveled by trash trucks, officials say.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration first threw its support behind the zone proposal last November. Reynoso and others framed it as an environmental justice policy, saying pollution from trash trucks harms certain neighborhoods more than others.

But some lawmakers worry the measure could create a monopoly in the commercial waste market. As written, it could let a single carter control up to three quarters of the city's routes, said Queens Council Member Barry Grodenchik.

"It is a sad day for New York City and I know were going to regret this day," Bronx Council Member Mark Gjonaj said. Gjonaj, a Democrat, has done business with an owner of a now-shuttered trash hauler and has been a major supporter of the industry, ProPublica reported last year.

This article has been updated to clarify the vote tally. The vote totals read at the City Council meeting differed from those later reflected in council records.