TESTIMONY
Javier Lohan, First Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Sanitation on the Expansion and Impact of NYC's Curbside Composting Program
0:07:08
·
8 min
Javier Lohan provides a comprehensive overview of the successes and future plans of NYC's curbside composting program, highlighting its significant role in waste diversion and climate change mitigation.
- Lohan outlines the strategic efforts to increase accessibility and participation in the curbside composting program, including the distribution of bins and enhancements in service coverage.
- The testimony underscores the environmental benefits of the program, such as reducing landfill usage and cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.
- Significant strides in diverting compostable waste from landfills are highlighted, with an increase in compost material collection noted as evidence of the program's effectiveness.
- Lohan mentions the integration of technology, like smart compost bins, to facilitate easy and widespread participation in the composting program.
- Future expansion plans and improvements to compost processing infrastructure are discussed to ensure the program's sustainability and efficiency.
Javier Lohan
0:07:08
you.
0:07:09
Thank you.
0:07:10
Good morning.
0:07:11
Chairborough, you and the members of the committee on sanitation and solid waste.
0:07:15
I am Javier Lohan, the first deputy commissioner for the New York City Department of Sanitation.
0:07:19
I'm joined today by my colleagues, Joshua Goodman, Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs And Customer Experience, Wyatt Marole, a Chief of Staff And Deputy Commissioner for external affairs and Kate Kitchener, director of the Bureau of Recycle And Sustainability.
0:07:34
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in a topic of deep importance to DSNY.
0:07:38
The handling and processing of compostable material.
0:07:42
This waste stream is everything from the kitchen and everything from the yard accounts for about one third of what New Yorkers rollaway, £8,000,000 of residential waste each day.
0:07:51
For more than 2 decades, past administrations have been working to achieve citywide composting and make this separation and the version of this food waste and Yardways go mainstream.
0:08:01
Today, despite a massive fiscal challenge, The Adams Administration is on track to do just that.
0:08:08
Keep the material out of the landfills where it contributes to climate change and instead to process it and put it into beneficial use here in New York City, both as compost to beautify our parks and gardens, and as renewable energy to heat our homes.
0:08:21
In the process, we are getting it out of the black bags off our streets, out of our landfills, and away from the rats.
0:08:29
In August 2022, after years of stops and starts, delays, and unfulfilled commitments from the city, mayor Adams committed to making curbside composting work and treat this important service part of the core function of DSNY.
0:08:43
Instead of a small niche program that is difficult for the public to at large to access.
0:08:48
The development and implementation of the largest, easiest curbside composting program ever was no small feed.
0:08:55
And many of the advocates and elected officials in this room helped make it happen.
0:09:01
PSNY distributed tens and thousands of bins send 100 and 1000 of mailers and purchase 158 net new collection trucks as part of this historic investment in making this program work.
0:09:12
As a result, every resident of Brooklyn And Queens now receives this service every week on the recycling day.
0:09:18
And this October, the administration will extend this universe service to the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island making curbside composting city wide as promised.
0:09:28
The most important thing about this program is its simplicity.
0:09:31
There is no need for sign ups, no special days to remember, or specific locations to visit within limited hours.
0:09:38
Simply place your materials out on the recycling day, and we'll ensure that they're put to good use.
0:09:43
This is a composting program for all New Yorkers.
0:09:46
Make the separation of compost material easy and people would do it will do it.
0:09:50
And have we have numbers to back this up in fiscal year 2020 3, the S and Y diverted a record £211,000,000 of compost material from landfills, an incredible increase from just over £150,000,000 the year before.
0:10:04
This is a testament to the value of simple universal programs, especially given that it includes only a part of our ongoing citywide rollout.
0:10:12
These kinds of programs not only improve the customer experience, they are more efficient than smaller programs because of the economies of scale.
0:10:20
We are now collecting more compostable material with fewer truck routes than in old programs.
0:10:25
The ease of use of principal holds true for our network of nearly 400 smart compost in bins across the 5 boroughs, where residents can drop off their compost material 247 through an easy to use smartphone app.
0:10:37
These bins are serviced 6 days a week and have proven to be very popular.
0:10:43
We are also on track to bring curbside compost collection to every department of educators school by the end of the school year, giving the next generation of compost's familiarity with the ease and importance of this program.
0:10:55
Material collected through each of these initiatives, curbside residential collection, smart bins, and schools is put to beneficial use.
0:11:02
Either through composting or through anaerobic digestion.
0:11:06
The department produces tens of 1,000,000 of pounds finished compost every year at this Staten Island compost facility.
0:11:12
Where weeks ago, mayor Adams and commissioner Tisch cut the ribbon on a major expansion.
0:11:18
The 33 Acres site is now permitted to take up a 100 and £5,000,000 of compost material per year and as a result of the new technology on-site can process it in half the time it used to take weeks rather than months.
0:11:33
While the city has sufficient permitted and contracted capacity to process compostable material from a citywide program, We are currently engaged in a procurement to distribute that capacity more evenly across the region.
0:11:45
City procurement rules limit the extent to which we can talk about future status of processing infrastructure for purchasable waste, but beneficial use and waste equity are both key to our long term planning.
0:11:57
I would like now to turn to the series of bills that are on the agenda today.
0:12:01
The first is introduction 55, sponsored by council member nurse.
0:12:06
Which would require the city to accept commercial waste at city owned and operate in marine transport stations.
0:12:12
Only
UNKNOWN
0:12:12
2 of
Javier Lohan
0:12:13
the city's transport stations have any additional capacity City, 91st Street MTS and the Southwest Brooklyn MTS.
0:12:20
However, there are significant costs that come with this approach which may require this approach impractical.
0:12:27
The SMY would have to add additional city and vendor staff to process waste on a new shift overnight In addition, our export contracts with substantial built in redundancy and an emphasis on rail and barge export are not cheap.
0:12:42
Our facilities may not be competitive with private transport stations in New York City and the larger metro area.
0:12:48
As it stands now requiring requiring DS and Y to take Commercial waste under any circumstance is cost prohibitive.
0:12:55
The second introduction is second is introduction 97.
0:12:58
Sponsored by council member on, which would increase the civil penalties for businesses that have failed to clean their sidewalk or 18 inches into the street.
0:13:07
Or from removing obstructions from the sidewalk.
0:13:10
The bill will raise the amount of the first fine that the S and White issues and increase the second and third fines.
0:13:15
In September, Commissioner Tisch urged his body to increase the amounts for the 1st, second, and third time penalties so that our enforcement of the basic communist rules had real teeth.
0:13:27
We appreciate the partnership with council member on for introducing this bill that achieves this.
0:13:31
And for the chair support and hearing the proposal.
0:13:35
The 3rd is pre considered introduction 358, sponsored by council member wrestler.
0:13:40
To require at least 5 organic drop off sites at each community district.
0:13:45
As we testified, DSNY has brought curbside composting to all of Brooklyn and Queens, and by October 2024, residents in all five boroughs will will receive curbside service.
0:13:56
As a popular supplement to curbsites collection, we have also installed nearly 400 smart composting bins in 25 community dish tricks, giving millions of New York's easy access to a drop off point for the organics any day of the week.
0:14:10
We appreciate the bill's goal of making available on every community this the drop off point, and we are open to evaluating the need for more drop off points as we roll out future curbside service later this year and continue to assess the smart composting bin's success.
0:14:24
The final bills are preconceived resolutions by council member of the nurse, the 1st in support of collaboration between the SOI and the parts department.
0:14:32
On encouraging interested parties to engage in composted religious activities and parks, and the second in support of current version of the Extended Producer Responsibility Act in Albany.
0:14:43
We are happy to continue working with our partners in the parks on this end, and we are deeply supportive of the state passing the packaging, reduction and recycling infrastructure act in 2024, which we agree with council member and the chair is long overdue.
0:14:58
In addition to the bills being discussed today, DSNY would also like to raise the issue of commercial organic separation.
0:15:04
Local law 146 2013 requires certain commercial establishments to separate the compost material, but this law is now substantially out of step with the city's commitment to the version of possible waste.
0:15:17
The commercial waste zone system will improve commercial diversion and that DSOI is requiring Carter's to charge businesses less to collect recyclables in compost linked to collect trash, but we also urge the the council to consider an update that would allow you some why to have source separation and all commercial establishments.
0:15:35
In line with the progress made in residential diversion.
0:15:39
Again, chair, we thank you for the opportunity to testify about this important topic.
0:15:43
With that, we look forward to taking your questions.
