Contact: John McCrory, (718) 499-7460
or via email: <MAILTO:johnmccrory@mindspring.com>
PROMPTED BY BIG APPLE GARBAGE SENTINEL'S SPECIAL REPORT
ON THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL RECYCLING IN
NEW YORK CITY, CITY COUNCIL TO HOLD OVERSIGHT HEARING
In its July 21st issue, Big Apple Garbage Sentinel reported the news
that New York City's commercial waste haulers were violating the law
and failing to recycle. In response, the New York City Council's
Committee on Environmental Protection has decided to shine a light on
the problem, scheduling an oversight hearing for 1:00 pm, this Friday,
the 17th of September. The hearing will be held in the 2nd floor
Committee Room.
Big Apple Garbage Sentinel documented that in April of this year, the
commercial waste firms that collect and process garbage and recyclable
materials from the city's offices and workplaces only managed to
recycle 4.1% of the materials they handled. As a result, that month
nearly 93,000 tons of recyclable materials were sent to landfills or
incinerators instead of being recycled.
Where did we learn this? From the New York City Department of
Sanitation's own recycling reports. See the data for yourself on the
Garbage Sentinel's website:
<http://garbagesentinel.org/v1/n11_SR6.html>.
At this Friday's oversight hearing, the Committee will seek an
explanation from officials of the Department of Sanitation and the New
York City Trade Waste Commission, which each regulate
commercially-collected waste. They will also be asking representatives
of commercial waste firms, the real estate industry, and environmental
experts for their input on how recycling in the commercial sector -- or
the failure to recycle -- affects
Big Apple Garbage Sentinel's SPECIAL REPORT: "Commercial Recycling
Falls Between the Cracks" analyzes the little-noticed failure of
recycling by the commercial waste industry in New York City. Read the
entire report on the Garbage Sentinel's web site at
<http://garbagesentinel.org/v1/n11_SRintro.html> to find out:
-- why not recycling hurts New York's businesses
-- why the commercial waste firms have given up on recycling; and
-- how State and City agencies allowed this to happen.
Big Apple Garbage Sentinel is a non-profit research organization that
investigates and reports on waste and recycling issues in New York
City.
-- _______________________________________________________________________ John McCrory, Executive Director <mailto:johnmccrory@mindspring.com> BIG APPLE GARBAGE SENTINEL <http://garbagesentinel.org> 333 4th St. #6I, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 499-7460