Zero Waste Action Guidelines Individual and Neighborhood Strategies for a Zero Waste City
PAn L AU
Contents 02
Letter to the Mayor
03
NYC Waste Management Today
06
Our Proposal Regulate Districting Private Carters
07
14
Adapt Compost Vegetation Maintenance Recycle Trash
19
Incentivize Litter Credits
21
Images for the Future
Appendix A: Individual Action Plan
Letter to the Mayor From: PAN LAU 45 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 To: The City of New York Office of The Mayor New York, NY 10007 March 6, 2019 Dear Mayor de Blasio, Our firm, PAN LAU, has been paying close attention to your administration’s recent push in Affordable Housing initiatives, like Perkins Eastman’s proposal at the site of the Marx Brothers playground, and we couldn’t help but notice that the city’s Zero Waste 2030 Plan was falling by the wayside. We understand that people need housing, but we believe that your affordable housing goals would be better served by first addressing NYC’s dire waste situation. After all, a city bogged down with trash isn’t a healthy or enjoyable place for anyone to live. The Zero Waste 2030 plan is thorough… really thorough… and we commend you for that. But the plan only addresses waste at the scale of buildings and infrastructure, without offering a clear plan of action at the level of the neighborhood or the individual. That means New Yorkers are disconnected from the goal of a zero-waste city in their daily lives. To change the way New York thinks about its trash, you have to change the way New York interacts with its trash. PAN LAU would like to fill in these gaps and help change the culture of waste management in New York City. We’ve attached a proposal to collect and manage waste on a very local level, using the Marx Brothers site as an example. This will require some changes, and maybe a few interruptions, but we recently heard from some friends in the developer world that New Yorkers don’t mind that. We think this proposal could be valuable not only to the sanitation department, but to local food producers, manufacturers, and laborers. In fact, there are high-schoolers in need of hands-on internships right on this proposed site. We hope we’ve captured your attention and that you’re as excited as we are. Please see the additional materials for more information. Sincerely, PAN LAU
PAn LAU
Christine Pan Katie Lau
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Letter to the Mayor
02
NYC Waste Management Today Residential waste is under the purview of DSNY. Manhattan is divided into 12 districts, with a sanitation garage that serves each district. Some sanitation garages are not located within the district they serve, and trucks must drive further distances to service these districts.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / NYC Waste Management Today
03
NYC Waste Management Today NYC residents produce over 11,000 tons of trash and 1,500 tons of recyclables. Over 30% of residential waste is organic material.
Waste and recyclables are taken by truck to processing centers and transfer stations in the South Bronx.
The South Bronx receives 1/3 of NYC’s trash, which arrives via 1,400 daily diesel truck trips. Waste leaves the South Bronx on barges to be incinerated in Newark or shipped to landfills.
Compost collected by the city is transported to city composting sites at Riker’s Island and Fresh Kills, or private facilities. Residential trash is shipped by truck and rail to upstate New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Recycled paper is shipped by barge to paper mills in Taiwan and India. NYC pays $330 million annually in landfill costs.
Sources: NRDC, https://www.nrdc.org/experts/eric-goldstein/nyc-takes-step-toward-environmental-justice City of New York, https://onenyc.cityofnewyork.us/goals/zero-waste Waste Exposed, http://www.waste.exposed ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / NYC Waste Management Today
04
NYC Waste Management Today DSNY collects waste from residences and schools, but not construction sites or private businesses. Businesses sometimes rely on waste brokers to hire a licensed private carting company to handle daily pickups. Over 200 private carters service all of NYC. Their routes are inefficient and often overlap, creating increased truck pollution. Additionally, private carting companies frequently operate under unsafe conditions, to the detriment of their workers and the wellbeing of NYC residents. Rezoning would improve the efficiency and safety of the private carting system, and reduce truck pollution, but the trash lobby has thus far prevented legislation from rezoning. Any changes to NYC waste management must first overcome the political and economic hurdles presented by the trash lobby.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / NYC Waste Management Today
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Our Proposal We believe that in order to improve the lives of New Yorkers and maintain a waste management system that is suitable for New York’s needs, NYC needs to implement a three-pronged approach to waste reduction: Regulate, Adapt, and Incentivize
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Our Proposal
06
Regulate: Redistricting Reorganizing NYC’s Sanitation Districts into smaller, population-based areas means a more Compost District @ Marx Brothers Playground 1/64” = 1’-0” localized approachProposed to waste management. Each district will have their own set of sanitation components that contribute to an integrated waste management system. These components include a composting facility, a plastics reclamation makerspace, block-by-block sanitation sheds, and an increased ground crew of sanitation workers. Goats maintain district greenspaces and eat some compost. Goats are shared between adjacent districts and service Central Park. As NYC approaches its Zero Waste goal and large scale waste spaces are transitioned to green spaces, more goats may be needed.
This increases the probability that incorrectly distributed recyclables and compost will be diverted to their appropriate streams, but also motivates district residents to sort more carefully, as it will Maintenance be easy to identify Vegetation offending households.
1 Symbol = 100 Units Compost is processed in the chicken run. Chickens eat some compost, and agitate the pile, speeding up the process. A proper mix of clippings and sawdust prevents any odor. When composting is complete, soil is distributed to local parks and urban farms.
District Population: 5,217 District Ground Force: 45 District Chickens: 200 District Goats: 100
shared between adjacent districts
1 Symbol = 100 lbs
(Based on current average waste production of 25 lbs/wk per person)
District Recyclables: 49,562 lbs/wk
District Compost: 39,126 lbs/wk Recycling, Makerspace
District Trash: 41,737 lbs/wk
Recyclables are up-cycled into building materials, like bricks and tiles, and playground equipment.
At district sheds, residents can drop off pre-sorted trash or participate in litter pick-up programs for credits. They can also seek advice about waste disposal.
District Sheds: 10 District Makerspaces: 1 District Trucks: 1
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
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Section view of shed contents Trash is sorted for infiltrating materials, compacted, and temporarily stored at the
Regulate: Private Carters Three Proposals NYC’s private carting system currently services all commercial businesses. We offer three plans that begin to address both localization of waste management and the absorption of private carters into DSNY management. These plans can either serve as implementation phases or alternative districting plans.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
08
Regulate: Private Carters Plan A This plan is most like the current sanitation system. DSNY will be required to relocate all district garages to the neighborhood they service. DSNY integrates commercial waste pickup and subcontracts private carters. Pickup routes will be based on efficiency and logistical analysis. All waste sorting is performed by DSNY workers at transfer stations 12 Districts
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
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Regulate: Private Carters Plan B This plan begins to localize Sanitation Districts. Private Carters will be required to reapply for their licenses. Following rigorous safety and equipment screening, approved carters will be assigned to a district. Sanitation Districts are reduced in size and doubled in quantity. Some waste is sorted before being sent onwards to transfer stations. 24 Districts
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
10
Regulate: Private Carters Plan C This plan fully localizes waste collection and sorting. City legislation eliminates private carting. DSNY absorbs the private carting workforce to maintain newly localized collection and sorting. Sanitation Districts are redrawn based on population and available space for new waste collection and sorting facilities. All waste collection and sorting happens within the neighborhood; compost and recyclables re-enter the neighborhood and compacted trash heads to landfills. 80 Districts
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
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Regulate: Ground Crew
Climate change increases the chance of unpredicted weather events. The city needs to have a flexible response team permanently in place to respond to these unplanned events, as well as other sanitation needs that may require a hands-on ground force – like leaf and snow removal and compost maintenance. This same on-the-ground crew will perform hands-on tasks throughout their district, and will form the basis of a grassroots force that can interact and connect with a neighborhood, and educate residents about waste removal. They will aid their neighborhoods in the pursuit of zero waste, and perform local waste collection and sorting. A permanent and visible ground crew helps maintain the positive image of DSNY. Furthermore, it allows workers to become more familiar and experienced at their jobs, allowing the DSNY to retain increasingly skilled workers and reducing unemployment in the city.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
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ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Regulate
13
Adapt
DSNY WASTE STREAM COMPOSITION
Our ultimate goal is to change waste culture in NYC at an individual level. Without the implementation of waste reform, there cannot be a guarantee for the quality of life of NYC residents. We believe that our proposed changes to NYC’s waste management will allow the city to go on to provide healthier, more sustainable housing to its residents. In order to change waste culture, we will address compost, vegetation maintenance, recycling, and trash.
Data is taken from DSNY 2013 Waste Characterization Study
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES /Adapt
ZERO WASTE DESIGN GUIDELINES / Chapter 02: BUILDING DESIGN
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Adapt: Compost Compost collection will be organized and maintained by our expanded ground crew. Decomposition is accelerated by localized flocks of chickens. Compost is prepared in the chicken run. Chickens eat some compost, and agitate the pile, speeding up the process. A proper mix of clippings and sawdust prevents any odor. When composting is complete, soil is distributed to local parks and urban farms.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Adapt
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Adapt: Vegetation Maintenance As waste is reduced in neighborhoods, less space is needed for sorting and pickup. These spaces can be reclaimed as greenspaces. Goats maintain district greenspaces and also consume some compost. Goats are shared between adjacent districts and also service Central Park. As NYC approaches its Zero Waste goal and large scale waste spaces are transitioned to greenspaces, more goats may be needed. Goats are a way to meet infrastructural needs with a smaller footprint, and can eventually become part of localized food production.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Adapt
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Adapt: Recycling Shorter and more efficient collection routes will require fewer sanitation vehicles. This will reduce emissions, and also reduce parking and storage needs at current sanitation facilities and garages. The newly vacated garages will be transformed into Plastics Reclamation Centers where recyclable plastics will be shredded, melted, and remolded in makerspaces dedicated to new technology and design. Upcycled plastics will re-enter neighborhoods as playground equipment, building material, siding, tiles, sanitation sheds, and other products.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Adapt
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Adapt: Trash Trash is sorted for infiltrating materials, compacted, and temporarily stored at the district DSNY headquarters. With the implementation of new compost and recycling strategies, the amount of trash produced and processed should decrease over time, and the built structure can be repurposed. In the meantime, because trash is pre-sorted and compressed, it takes up a much smaller amount of space and can be transported more efficiently.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Adapt
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Incentivize Economic incentives should be implemented to encourage residents to comply with new trash initiatives. This system of rewards and levies will motivate and correct households as they transition to a new waste culture. Correctly sorted compost, trash, and recyclables will be rewarded with cash credits, either sponsored by DSNY or local businesses. Private businesses no longer pay private carters for pickup, but are instead charged a fee by DSNY based on the quantity of waste generated. Credits will be assessed for compost and sorted recyclables. This fee will contribute to funding implementation of the new waste system.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Incentivize
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Incentivize: Litter Sanitation stations, sheds which are fabricated locally in Plastics Reclamation Centers, house litter-collection equipment. Local businesses can sponsor tools that track motion over time, and citizens can earn coupons and prizes by improving their streets. Sanitation stations will also be staffed by Ground Crew, who are available to help with waste-related concerns.
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Incentivize
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Sidewalk space serves as trash pickup site, waste seeps into the city
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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Sidewalk space becomes greenspace, goats move freely to maintain vegetation throughout the city
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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Large scale infrastructure serves the needs of city sanitation
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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Sanitation garages become plastics reclamation centers and makerspaces. Upcycled plastics become playground equipment and building material
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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Waste is transported to landfills by barge
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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Barges and landings become greenspaces and vibrant destinations
ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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Large scale infrastructure, like this waste train in the Bronx, is needed to transport trash from New York City to landfills around the country ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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WIth reduced landfill use, former railway is transformed into trails ZERO WASTE ACTION GUIDELINES / Images for the Future
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