Processing and Marketing Recyclables in New York City
Rethinking Economic, Historical, and Comparative Assumptions
May 2004
This report discusses current recycling economics, the history of New York City’s recycling program in light of such economics, and an in-depth comparison of NYC to several large U.S. cities.

Due to the size of the file, this report is divided into the following sections:

Table of Contents / Director’s Note / Acknowledgments / Abbreviations and Definitions

Introduction

Chapter 1: Recycling Economics
•The Recycling Market
•Recycled Materials Prices
•Competition Between Various Buyers and Sellers
•World Markets
•Regional Factors
•Government Intervention into Markets
•Chapter Conclusion: Applied Economics

Chapter 2: Modern History of NYC Recycling
•“Modern” Recycling Comes to New York
•Establishing the Citywide Recycling Program
•Processing Recyclables: Early Problems
•Early Initiatives to Develop Private Capacity to Process NYC Recyclables
•Developing Private Capacity: What Happened Instead
•The Lessons of History

Chapter 3: Lessons from Other U.S. Cities
•The Case of San Francisco
•The Case of Los Angeles
•The Case of Chicago
•The Case of Seattle
•Chapter Conclusion: Applied Comparison

Appendix I: State Recycling Goals and Mandates

Appendix II: Beyond Case Studies: Comparative Studies of Recycling Rates

Appendix III: Waste Prevention Policy and Planning

Appendix IV: Public Education about Recycling

Appendix V: NYC Department of Sanitation Annual Recycling Report for 2002 submitted to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Appendix VI: Comparative Recycling Data for Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle

Endnotes

Notes to Illustrations

The following appendices are included only as pdfs on the report CD, not in the printed report. Since they are large files, some are broken up into several sections:

New York City Department of Sanitation, Office of Operations Planning, Evaluation, and Control, New York City Recycling Strategy White Paper, January 1988.

New York City Department of Sanitation, Office of Operations Planning, Preliminary Recycling Plan, Fiscal Year 1991. Section 1 | 2 | 3

New York City Department of Sanitation, A Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan for New York City and Final Generic Impact Statement, August 1992. Section 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

New York City Department of Sanitation, A Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan for New York City and Final Generic Impact Statement, Appendix Volume 4.1, Waste Management Components, August 1992. Section 1 | 2

Urban Research Center, New York University/Appleseed for the New York City Department of Sanitation, Exploring Economic Development Opportunities in Recycling, August 1993. Section 1 | 2

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New York City MSW Composting Report
Summary of Research Project and Conceptual Pilot Facility Design
January 2004
This report explores the state of municipal solid waste (MSW) composting technology, examines the quality of compost produced from this technology, and presents a theoretical proposal for how such technology can be further tested within New York City.

Due to the size of the file, this report is divided into the following sections:

Director’s Note/Acknowledgments

Abbreviations and Definitions

Introduction: Goal and Scope of the Project
• MSW Composting: The Basic Concept and a Brief History
• MSW Composting in the Context of New York City
• Report Structure
• Summary of Key Findings
• Conclusions

PART 1: RESEARCH PROJECT

Chapter 1: The New York City Composting Trials
• Summary
• Research Questions
• New York City Composting Trials

Chapter 2: Compost Quality
• Summary
• Research Questions
• New York State Regulatory Issues
• Quality of New York City MSW Compost
• Quality of Compost from the Surveyed Facilities
• Other Test Parameters
• Biosolids

Chapter 3: Four-Facility Survey
• Summary
• Research Questions
• Facility Surveys
• Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Chapter 4: Conclusions
• Summary of Key Findings
• Components of a Successful MSW-Composting Facility

PART 2: THEORETICAL NEW YORK CITY PILOT FACILITY

Chapter 5: Learning Objectives and Conceptual Design
• Summary
• Materials Recovery and Composting
• Design Considerations
• Learning Objectives
• Facility Layout and Description of Components

Chapter 6: Projected Recovery Rates
• Summary
• Projected Material-Recovery Rates
• Recovery Rates
• Projected Annual Facility Recovery Rate

Chapter 7: Cost Estimates
• Summary
• Cost Per Ton
• Financial Analysis

Endnotes

Appendices
Appendix A: Waste Characterization for Composting Pilot Study
Appendix B: Marlborough Facility Scale Receipts
Appendix C: Marlborough Facility Temperature Logs
Appendix D: New York City Institutional/Commercial/Industrial Organic Waste Composting Economic and Technical Viability Final Report
Appendix E: Data on New York City’s Biosolids (2001/2002)
Appendix F: Data from the New York City Composting Trials
Appendix G: Interpretation of Waste and Compost Tests
Appendix H: Data from the Four-Facility Survey
Appendix I: Revised Preliminary Design and Cost Estimate for Material Recovery Facility Front End for Co-Composting Pilot Facility
Appendix J: Life Cycle Financial Analysis for New York City MSW Composting Facility

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New York City Recycling In Context:
A Comprehensive Analysis of Recycling in Major U.S. Cities
August 2001
Evaluates NYC’s 20 percent recycling rate in the context of the recycling rates of other U.S. cities. The report also details the various measures and calculations that are used by different jurisdictions to calculate their recycling rates.

Due to the size of the file, this report is divided into the following sections:

Introductory pages
• Cover
• Table of contents
• List of tables and figures
• Abbreviations and definitions
• Director’s note

History of the program
• Early challenges to “modern” recycling in NYC
• Comparing New York’s recycling rate to other cities
• Explaining remaining differences part 1 | part 2
• Comparisons in context
• Implications for New York City

Appendices
• Endnotes
• Appendix I: Municipal recycling survey part 1 | part 2
• Appendix II: NYC’s recycling law in force at the end of 2001
• Appendices III, IV, and V: NYC diversion rates; Source data; and Data for the City of Portland, Oregon

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Composting in New York City:
A Complete Program History
August 2001
Summarizes the DSNY Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling's pilot and on-going programs to compost the organic portion of the City’s waste stream. The report also offers recommendations for future pilot study and possible new program development in this area.

Due to the size of the file, this report is divided into the following sections:

Introductory pages
• Cover
• Table of contents
• List of tables
• Abbreviations and definitions
• Director’s note
• What is composting?

Two models for centralized composting: source-separated and mixed material
• Source-separated leaf and yard waste
• Source-separated food waste
• Mixed-material pilot

Decentralized (on-site) composting
• Composting on-site at city institutions
• The compost project outreach and education program
• Backyard composting pilot
• In-sink, food-waste disposals
• Future directions

Appendices
• Appendices I and II: Waste characterization and Memorandum of understanding
• Appendix III: Intensive program interim report

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NYC Recycles:
More Than a Decade of Outreach Activities
by the NYC Department of Sanitation, FY 1986–1999
Fall 1999
Documents the major public education and outreach activities that supported the development and implementation of NYC’s groundbreaking recycling program.

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Recycling: What Do New Yorkers Think?
Five Years of Market Research
Fall 1999
Summarizes the market research the DSNY Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling conducted from 1995 to 1999 about New Yorkers’ attitudes toward residential recycling and recycling alternatives.

Read highlights from the market research and the 2005 market research update.

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Mixed Waste Processing in New York City:
A Pilot Test Evaluation
October 1999
Describes the Department’s three-part pilot program to measure the effectiveness of mixed-waste processing in recovering recyclables from City collection districts with historically low recycling diversion rates.

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Backyard Composting in New York City:
A Comprehensive Program Evaluation
June 1999
Presents the results of the Department’s year-long Backyard Composting Pilot Program. In this Program, the Department worked with the City’s Botanical Gardens to implement backyard composting in four test neighborhoods and at the same time researched residents’ receptivity, participation rates, and waste composition impacts of the Program.

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Waste Prevention Reports, Spring 2000 

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) prepared the following ten reports for the NYC Department of Sanitation/Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse & Recycling:

Measuring Waste Prevention in New York City 
with Foreword to the Waste Prevention Report Series

Survey of Waste Prevention Programs in Major U.S. Cities, States and Counties

Procurement Strategies of Federal Agencies and Jurisdictions Beyond New York City for Waste Prevention and Recycled Products

Interagency Task Force Action Plan to Encourage the Use of Recycled-Content Building Materials  

Materials Exchange Research Report
with attachment New York City Materials Exchange Roundtable: A Final Report

Characterization of New York City's Solid Waste Stream

Life-Span Costing Analysis Case Studies   

Packaging Restrictions Research: Targeting Packaging for Reduction, Reuse, Recycling and Recycled Content
with attachment Packaging Waste: Whose Responsibility Is It Anyway?

NYCitySen$e Project Summary  

NYC WasteLe$$ Summary Report

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