Solid Waste & Recycling

New York is facing a solid waste crisis: It has been reported that most, if not all, of the state's landfills are nearing capacity and could close in the coming years. New York needs to develop a “circular economy,” one which:
  • Reduces the amount of wastes
  • Recycles as much as possible
  • Reuses products — particularly packaging — well before anything is discarded
NYPIRG is working to ensure that New York moves forward with policies that prevent the production of waste and improve successful recycling initiatives.
  • The number one place that residential trash goes to is a landfill.
  • Number two is export for disposal.
  • Number three is garbage-burning incinerators.
  • Last is getting recycled.

There is no evidence that the problem is getting better. In fact, the state’s residential recycling rate has been dropping over the past decade. By the way, these disposal methods can contribute to the climate crisis: Solid waste accounts for 12% of statewide greenhouse gas emissions, most of which comes from decomposing waste in landfills.

The state’s capacity to take this problem on is dwindling. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), “New York’s 25 municipal solid waste landfills have a combined landfill capacity of between 16 and 25 years.

If the state’s landfills are filled to capacity in a decade or so, what will happen? Trucking the waste somewhere else is likely to be the option, but that is expensive and uncertain: Who knows for how long someone else will be willing to take New York’s trash? Already, New York City exports nearly all of its trash. Unless something changes, the rest of the state will have to follow that expensive route. Actions taken now could extend the lifespan of the state’s existing landfills, but waiting will make the options even more difficult.

Creating a new landfill is not cheap, and certainly landfill siting can be controversial — ditto for attempts to expand existing ones. Obviously, the state will want to extend the life of existing landfills as long as they can (although local communities understandably may oppose those efforts). In order to do that, programs must be put in place to encourage New Yorkers to reduce the amount of trash that they create.

The DEC is considering a trash surcharge that would both generate revenues for dealing with the solid waste disposal problems and encourage New Yorkers to reduce their wastes. Not surprisingly, adding a “tax” to encourage people not to produce trash can be unpopular, and these proposals raise questions about the impacts on lower-income New Yorkers.

So why not tackle the trash at the source? According to the DEC, paper and plastics make up nearly half of municipal solid wastes. There are two bills ready to take those two waste materials on, both of which would reduce packaging waste and promote the concept of a “circular economy” — one in which wastes are reduced to a minimum. These two solutions to New York's solid waste crisis are:

  1. Expanding and modernizing the Bottle Bill
  2. Passing the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act

Bottle Bill

The Current Bottle Bill

Enacted in 1982 and expanded in 2009, the New York State Returnable Container Act, commonly known as the “Bottle Bill,” requires a 5-cent refundable deposit to be placed on eligible beverage containers — currently beer, soda, wine coolers, and water. For more than 40 years, the Bottle Bill has proven to be a highly effective program to reduce litter and increase recycling rates:

  • Since it went into effect, beverage container litter has been reduced by 70%.
  • In 2020, 5.5 billion plastic, glass, and aluminum beverage containers (totaling 241,505 tons) were recycled.
  • In 2023, New York's redemption rate was at nearly 70%.
But we need to do more, and now is the time to modernize the Bottle Bill by:
  • Expanding the Bottle Bill to include wine, spirits, hard cider, and most non-carbonated beverages: A deposit system can dramatically reduce litter and solid waste that would otherwise be discarded. Many other states have already added these containers to their laws.
  • Increasing the deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents and use revenues to support recycling equity: States with higher deposit fees have higher redemption rates. Increasing the deposit could also generate more revenues for the state, with those additional funds being used to address limits on redemption options in low-income communities and other litter and solid waste problems.
  • Boosting accessibility: Enforcement of the law is spotty. Use additional revenues to boost enforcement and to expand redemption centers into “food deserts” that limit consumers’ ability to redeem their deposits.

Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act

A significant contributor to our waste and plastic pollution crisis is that consumer brands are not on the hook to deal with the impact of their products’ packaging. Nearly 30% of the waste stream is packaging, much of which is unrecyclable. Product producers have no requirements or incentives to reduce packaging waste, create reusable products, make packaging easier to recycle, or boost market demand by using more recycled content.

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act will:
  • Require companies to reduce their packaging by 50% over 12 years: Companies that sell consumer products in New York State would be required to reduce single-use plastic packaging. The remaining packaging would have to be redesigned to be refilled within a refill system or be truly recyclable (as opposed to downcycled).
  • Force polluting companies to pay to deal with their packaging waste, saving taxpayers and municipalities money: New York City spends over $400 million of taxpayer dollars annually on waste exports. Companies will be required to pay for the management and recycling of their packaging waste, rather than passing that cost to taxpayers.
  • Get 19 of the most toxic chemicals and substances out of packaging: Currently, lead, PFAS, formaldehyde, phthalates, bisphenols, vinyl chloride, cadmium, and many more toxic chemicals can be found in common food packaging. These chemicals are carcinogenic, endocrine disrupting, or harmful to human health in countless ways.

Events & Activities

When: 2 to 4 PM
Where: Coney Island in Brooklyn

NYPIRG students and staff had fun in the sun while cleaning up the beach. We collected over 1,500 pieces of trash, and our litter surveys will help with our advocacy for the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and modernizing New York's Bottle Bill. 

When: 1 PM
Where: 219 McKibbin Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

NYPIRG visited Sure We Can, a recycling center and sustainability hub in Brooklyn. Sure We Can aims to bring community members together through recycling, composting, gardening, and the arts. We took a tour of their facilities to learn about recycling and sustainability, and how students who would like more hands-on experiences can get involved with volunteer opportunities.

When: 10:30 AM to 4 PM
Where: New York State Capitol in Albany

NYPIRG, Beyond Plastics, and other members of the New York is NOT Disposable Coalition rallied and met with state representatives to urge them to pass a strong Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill.

When: 12 PM
Where: Virtual (Zoom)

NYPIRG, NYenvironcom, and The Serica Initiative had an online discussion exploring the state of ground-level recycling, some of the changes since China greatly restricted imports of recyclables in 2018, and what this all means for the collectors and stewards of many of our post-consumer recyclable materials in the circular economy. We looked at the history and culture of these recyclers, how immigration has been a part of this important story, the positive role of these recyclers in our community and for the environment, the greater industry picture, and recognized some of the members of this community with the 1st Annual Recycling Efforts and Achievements at the Local Level (REALL) awards.

This online event included speakers Blair Horner, Executive Director of NYPIRG; Ryan Castalia, Executive Director of Sure We Can; and Samantha MacBride, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs at Baruch College of the City University of New York. The event was moderated by Alex Scilla, Founder/Director of NYenvironcom.

NYS Commission soon to decide on salary raises for state lawmakers, officials  (Newsday, November 1, 2024)
Local organizations encourage political involvement, voting on campus  (The Daily Orange, October 31, 2024)
VOTE 2024: Catching up with young voters ahead of Election Day  (News 12 Brooklyn, October 30, 2024)
Voting in a toxic political environment  (WAMC, October 28, 2024)
Voting has begun  (WAMC, October 21, 2024)
Brooklyn College Students Pressure Adams to Fix Flatbush Ave. Buses After Years of Delays  (Streetsblog, October 18, 2024)
Polling Sites on College Campuses, Support for EMS Workers  (New York Now, October 17, 2024)
Bus riders protest in Brooklyn for faster service down Flatbush Avenue  (ABC Eyewitness News, October 17, 2024)
Will Albany get another pay raise?  (WAMC, October 14, 2024)
From absentee ballots to free rides, local colleges break down barriers to get students voting  (WHEC, October 12, 2024)
Put Big Oil on the hook for climate damages instead of NY taxpayers (Guest Opinion by Blair Horner)  (Syracuse.com, October 9, 2024)
Report: 20 New York Colleges Don’t Have Polling Places, Violating State Law  (Democracy Docket, October 8, 2024)
Groups say Niagara, St. Bonaventure lack voting sites for students  (The Buffalo News, October 8, 2024)
Coalition FOILs BOE over on-campus voting  (ABC News 27, October 8, 2024)
Albany's first steps in New York's budget dance  (WAMC, October 7, 2024)
Coalition FOILs BOE over on-campus voting  (WBRL, October 7, 2024)
Knocking on Doors Ahead of Election Day  (WNYC, October 4, 2024)
NYPIRG Spearheads Voter Registration Efforts  (The New Paltz Oracle, October 2, 2024)
A New York scandal, again  (WAMC, September 30, 2024)
Is Hochul a climate hero or a villain?  (City & State, September 23, 2024)
News Archive
Press Release: Bus Riders March for Faster Buses on Flatbush Avenue; Call on Mayor and City to Get it Done
A coalition of civic organizations released a letter to the State Board of Elections identifying possible failures in state law mandating that colleges with dorms have polling places. The groups urged action to ensure compliance or to strengthen the law.
A coalition of civic, environmental, social justice, and community-based charities joined with small business “redemption centers” to call on Governor Hochul and the state legislative leaders “to urge your attention and immediate action to prevent business closings and job losses by supporting legislation to boost the ‘handling fee’ that provides revenues for redemption centers, which are critical to the success of the state’s Bottle Deposit Law.”
VICTORY! On Monday, June 17, a six-year fight for clean air and public health came to an end when Danskammer Energy withdrew its application to build a new fracked gas plant on the Hudson River in Newburgh, NY.
As a dangerous heat wave grips New York, sending "feels like" temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, community leaders, local officials, and extreme weather survivors are demanding Governor Hochul take immediate action by signing the recently passed Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129B/A.3351B) into law.
Tale of the Tape: NYPIRG's 2024 Legislative Review – The number of bills that passed in the Senate increased, while that number decreased in the Assembly. The Governor's use of emergency "messages of necessity" flattens.
NY State Assembly Passes Historic Climate Superfund Bill to Make Polluters Pay for Climate Damages
NYPIRG's Statement on Governor Hochul's Delay of Congestion Pricing
A coalition supporting improvements to the state’s Bottle Deposit Law today released a listing of over 1,000 local charities that benefit from the law. The coalition argued that these charities offer services for those in need and that modernization of the forty-year-old law would enhance the charities’ services.
A coalition supporting improving the state’s Bottle Deposit Law today released a review of recent redemption center closures. The review, conducted by redemption centers, identified 97 businesses that have closed or appear to be closed. Another 54 redemption centers had disconnected phones and no obvious social media presence. The coalition argued that many of these closures are the direct result of New York's 15 year "freeze" of the handling fee that redemption centers rely on for revenues.
NYPIRG Reacts to Speaker Heastie's Comments on Climate Change Superfund Act
A coalition of civic groups today called on the New York State Board of Elections to review the state’s polling locations to see if colleges have on-campus polls as required under the law. The letter is in reaction to the results of a survey conducted by NYPIRG. NYPIRG analyzed 199 colleges (217 campuses, some colleges have multiple campuses) in New York State, of which 147 have dorms located on their premises. This review of the locations of polling places for college students living on-campus identifies a wide gap between those campuses that have dorms and the number that have polling places.
A statewide coalition representing hundreds of community, environmental, labor, and religious groups today applauded state Senate approval of the Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires Big Oil to cover New York's climate damages – not taxpayers. The groups urged swift action in the state Assembly. The majority of Assemblymembers are sponsors of the legislation.
News Release on NYPIRG's Recent Victory Expanding Financial Aid for Low-Income Patients
Environmental, community, and business groups representing 300 New York organizations today held a press conference to urge state lawmakers to include the "Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill" (S.237B/A6353A) as a "must do" priority for the end of session
NYPIRG Statement on Start of Congestion Pricing
NYPIRG reacted to elements of the final state budget, highlighting the "good," the "bad," and the "ugly."
Release: County & Local Elected Officials Join 180+ Organizations to Urge Governor Hochul & Assembly Speaker Heastie to End $265M of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the Final NYS Budget
Bill to Gut NYC’s Landmark Climate and Jobs Law Slammed as Real Estate Lobby Attack Begins. Proposed Linda Lee bill would eviscerate Local Law 97, which is creating thousands of local jobs, cutting utility bills, and reducing pollution.
Report and Release: Climate Change Superfund Environmental Justice. $1 Billion Potential Scenario of Annual Allocations by Region and County
Reports & Features Archive