QUESTION
How does New York City's waste collection rates compare to those of other major cities?
0:48:21
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111 sec
Joshua Goodman indicates difficulty in comparing New York City's waste tonnage rates directly with other cities due to variable reporting structures but notes significant progress in the city's composting program.
- Joshua Goodman discusses challenges in making direct comparisons with other cities because of differing state laws on reporting structures.
- He mentions that New York City has developed its composting program by emulating successful models from Toronto, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco.
- Goodman highlights a record amount of compostable material diverted in the fiscal year 2023, with more records expected to be broken in fiscal year 2024.
- Despite the challenges in direct city comparisons, the possibility of exploring such comparisons in the future is mentioned.
Julie Menin
0:48:21
I did have a question how the city's collected tonnage rates compared to other cities.
0:48:27
Could you give us a picture of that of how we're doing as a city compared to other major cities?
Joshua Goodman
0:48:33
I know that I can talk a little bit about the program design and about what we're seeing sort of against ourselves.
0:48:40
I'm not sure what we have compared to other cities at the moment because a lot of times, I understand it.
0:48:46
The reporting structures are set by state law, and they may not match apples to apples.
0:48:52
For example, I know in California, they have to report their construction debris as part of their diversion rates.
0:48:58
So their diversion rates don't compare to ours because they're done differently.
0:49:01
But we did in developing the largest and easiest curbside composting program ever look at models that had been successful in other North American cities, in particular, Toronto, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco, and we tried to model what had worked in those cities.
0:49:21
So things like working off of a leaf and yard waste first model, and then making food waste kind of an added bonus
Shaun Abreu
0:49:27
of the of the program
Joshua Goodman
0:49:28
was how they were able to build long term economically viable and widely used programs.
0:49:35
And then in terms of comparison against ourselves, I mean, we just saw it in the FY 23 MMR a record amount of compostable material diverted.
0:49:45
It was £211,000,000 compared to something like a 150,000,000 in the FY 'twenty two and MR.
0:49:53
And that was even before the Brooklyn curbside program came online.
0:49:56
And it included the time period worth Queen's program was on pause.
0:50:00
So the FY 24 MMR is going to again shatter a record.
0:50:05
On the amount of material we're diverting.
0:50:07
But as far as direct comparisons, others say, it's certainly something we can look at.
Julie Menin
0:50:10
Okay.
0:50:11
Thank you very much.
0:50:11
Thank you, Chair.
