Q&A
Policies for handling waste bin theft and vandalism
0:49:24
·
3 min
Deputy Commissioner Joshua Goodman explains the Department of Sanitation's approach to dealing with potential theft or vandalism of waste bins. He emphasizes that bin theft is not a widespread issue in cities that require them and outlines measures taken to prevent and address such incidents.
- Bins have space for address writing, serial numbers, and RFID tags for identification
- Residents are advised to file a police report if their bin is stolen
- Sanitation supervisors can use discretion in enforcement if a bin is missing
- Summons for uncontainerized trash due to stolen bins can be contested with a police report
Chris Banks
0:49:24
So since it's the law that they have to have them, When it comes to vandalism or it'd be in stolen, how was that dealt with?
0:49:35
Do do they would they have to get a police report?
0:49:38
You know?
0:49:38
Because I know there's certain amount of time Yes.
0:49:41
It takes for the garbage bin to get back to them if they have to reorder 1.
Shaun Abreu
0:49:44
So there's a there's
Joshua Goodman
0:49:45
a few things on this.
0:49:48
First thing I'll say about it is the rules around residential waste containerization don't mandate the use of our bin until June of 2026.
Chris Banks
0:49:59
Okay.
0:49:59
You
Joshua Goodman
0:49:59
must use a bin starting November 12th this year.
0:50:03
If you already have one, as people in many parts of the city have been using bins for years, you're certainly welcome to continue to use yours.
0:50:09
We're not saying you have to get rid of it the 1st day and replace it with ours as long as it meets the current rules which are 55 gallons or less and with a secure lid.
0:50:17
But if they've been using it all along, I'm sure they can keep using it.
0:50:20
The NYC bin will be required in June of 2026 and is available now for anyone in a 1 to 9 unit building who is containerizing for the first time.
0:50:29
We always like to point out that it is by far the cheapest bin of its quality available.
0:50:33
It's about a third the price of those similar bins you would see in stores.
0:50:36
So on the points about theft and vandalism, there are sort of a few points I wanna make around that, which are New York City is not the first place to require the use of bins for trash.
0:50:47
In fact, we're just about the last among developed cities.
0:50:50
When you think about other places that you've been, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, you know, Skokie, I mean everywhere.
0:50:59
Right?
0:51:00
There is not some sort of, like, perpetual bin thefts epidemic.
0:51:05
It's not as if every week in Chicago, you're gonna put your trash on your bin has been stolen.
0:51:09
We certainly and when also related to that, businesses in New York City have been required to put their trash in bins since March of this year.
0:51:17
And while there have been some anecdotal reports of bin thefts, you also see a tremendous amount of commercial bins in use.
0:51:24
They they stay on the street and they get used properly.
0:51:28
But obviously, we know it is the sort of thing that can happen.
0:51:30
I just always like to talk about we're talking about a hypothetical Right.
Chris Banks
0:51:33
In those situations.
Joshua Goodman
0:51:34
So in those situations, we've done a few things to try to minimize it.
0:51:39
There's a big white space on the side of the bin to write your address.
0:51:42
They all have a serial number and they have an RFID.
0:51:45
Now that's not a tracker.
0:51:46
But it does mean that if we find one that's been misplaced or moved, it is likely going to be easy to replace to get it back to where it's supposed to go.
0:51:54
If you're being a stolen or vandalized, we would recommend getting a police report and use if you receive a summons, which, of course, if the supervisor we talked about the supervisors who do the enforcement, if they know that a building uses a bin every day and then one day the bin is gone, they obviously are they have the ability to use their discretion.
0:52:14
About it.
0:52:15
Oh, gee.
0:52:15
I wonder what happened.
0:52:16
They always use their bins, and they they don't have it.
0:52:18
They can use discretion.
0:52:19
But if someone receives a summons for uncontainorized trash because their bin has been stolen, there's an existing process to contest that.
0:52:25
They can go down to oath, and they can bring the police report, and they can say to the police judge.
Chris Banks
0:52:29
Ontario.
