Reaching for Zero:
A The Citizens Plan for Zero Waste in New York City
By Resa Dimino and Barbara Warren
New York City Zero Waste Campaign
and Consumer Policy Institute / Consumers Union June 2004
available in pdf format

To achieve zero waste (or darn close to it) New Yorkers will need to be both inspired and required to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost like they never have before. While education and financial incentives can provide the inspiration, enforcement is a critically important element to ensuring a zero waste future.

Enforcement as a motivating factor should not be overlooked. Behavior studies have shown that monetary incentives, both positive (rewards) and negative (fines) are effective motivators, especially if combined with other motivating factors, such as education (De Young, 1985-6). Furthermore, enforcement of requirements for adequate recycling collection and storage areas in multi-family buildings can actually eliminate barriers to participation.

Indeed it is in the Ccity’s interest to use all of the tools available to encourage and enable residents to recycle, reuse and compost properly. Only by doing so can we ensure the success of a zero waste program. However, we should not overlook the fact that enforcement fines can be a valuable revenue enhancement tool that can help to finance a zero waste program.

New York City’s enforcement efforts to date have been inconsistent, punitive- and almost entirely focused on low density housing. Enforcement officials tend to simply fine residents without informing them of precisely what they did wrong or how they can do better next time. This punitive approach can result in residents putting recyclables in the trash to avoid getting tickets for putting the wrong material in the recycling bin.

When properly executed, enforcement can spur greater participation in recycling programs. The City of Philadelphia recently held focus groups to determine what would motivate residents to recycle more and found that the most important driver was the fear of fines. With this information the City, launched an advertising campaign in March of 2002 that depicted a recycling enforcement officer talking with a resident about the mistakes made in sorting recyclables and warning her that if she makes the mistake again she will get fined. Philadelphia followed that same strategy on the street-—warning first and then fines. The campaign resulted in 18% overall increase in recyclable tonnage over 18 months (Robinson, 2004). This "warning first" approach should be used as NYC launches enforcement for each new program.

Other cities have used more creative incentives to motivate better recycling. The City of Berkeley had a contest during which city crews inspected numerous recycling bins and provided a cash prize to the resident who recycled the best (i.e., did not sort out any non-recyclable materials and did not throw away any recyclables). For more information, see: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/news/2003/07jul/071503cashfortrashwinnersrecognized.html.

Enforcement to support a zero waste system should include the following components:

• Education First: In most cities, the first message to a household that has improperly sorted its recyclables is a "sorry tag" or "love note" provided by the collection crew that informs the resident of what was done wrong and serves as a warning that if the mistake is repeated, they will receive a fine. Only after that note is left and ignored does the resident receive a fine from an enforcement agent for recycling improperly. DSNY used this approach briefly when glass and plastic recycling were suspended in 2002, affixing stickers on improperly sorted bags notifying residents of the new rules.
• Greater fines for multi-family dwellings: Larger fines, increasing with the size of the building and number of repeat offenses, would get the attention of multi-family building owners and reflect the greater impact of problems in those buildings, as opposed to single family homes.
• Clear bags to enhance enforcement: Officials will more easily identify zero waste violations if they can see the materials being thrown away. To clearly differentiate garbage from recycling, paper recycling bags could be clear with a green stripe and container recycling bags could be clear with a blue stripe.
• Enforcement of recycling area regulations: DSNY has regulations regarding the availability, signage and maintenance of recycling areas in multi-family buildings. Preliminary City University of New York (CUNY) research shows an association between poor recycling conditions in apartment buildings with poor diversion rates, and good recycling conditions with better diversion rates (Clarke, 2004).
• Agency and Institutional Participation: Recycling in NYC agencies and institutions has not been enforced; the City should develop strategies to enforce recycling requirements in this sector. These could include sanctions to employees (including facility managers) who knowingly disregard recycling rules and requirements.
• Commercial Recycling Enforcement: The infrastructure developed for commercial recycling after the passage of Local Law 87 was dismantled in the late 1990’s to enable transfer station operators to handle City garbage export contracts. This has resulted in a recycling void in the commercial sector, where even the most well-meaning businesses have little or no opportunity to recycle materials other than paper and scrap metal. Thus enforcement must follow infrastructure, legislative and programmatic improvements. Then an education first enforcement model can begin for the commercial sector (see Chapter 3, Recycling, and Chapter 10, Legislation and Regulation).
• Transportation Enforcement: The City should do more to enforce transportation-related violations by commercial carters and DSNY fleets, including on-street queing, excessive idling and noise pollution.
• Facility Operations Enforcement: All processing facilities should be required to meet a high standard for environmental performance and worker health and safety.

Residential Enforcement

The City should adopt an enforcement policy of warning and informing first, and then following up with fines. It would be most efficient to train the collection crews to leave "sorry tags" when they identify improperly sorted materials. These tags would inform residents of what they did wrong and how to separate their materials properly next time.

Once this is achieved, the City should invest in a greater number of enforcement agents to more aggressively enforce recycling, reuse and composting requirements. Enforcement must emphasize helping residents improve their performance, not on penalizing them for participating in the program, but getting a minor point wrong. In addition, a sliding scale of fines should be developed with larger fines levied on larger buildings and smaller fines on single family homes. Increasing fines for repeated offenses should also be considered. Multifamily building enforcement must be a higher priority, including making sure recycling areas in buildings are properly maintained with appropriate signage. The revenues generated through the increase in fines would more than cover the cost of additional agents. Revenue should be dedicated to education efforts (see Chapter 9, Financing).

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Begin to train collection crews to use "sorry tags."

2005: Begin inspections to make sure recycling areas in apartment buildings are located and maintained optimally for maximum participation.

2006: Increase the number of enforcement agents and fines issued; institute larger fines for larger buildings; inspect and enforce conditions in recycling areas of buildings.

2007 and beyond: Increase fines for repeated offenses. Evaluate other regulations or problem areas for enforcement needs.

Agency and Institutional Enforcement

Enforcement of recycling requirements in the institutional sector is critical to the success of a zero waste program. City agencies set an example not only to their employees, many of whom are City residents, but also to the public they serve. Thousands of New Yorkers visit City agencies daily. Devising a means for enforcing participation in the City’s recycling, reuse and composting programs will therefore be critical in broadcasting the message that the City is serious about zero waste.

Because NYC agencies and institutions do not see the cost of recycling or disposal, there has been no incentive nor has there been a mechanism to ensure their participation in recycling programs. The Pay as You Throw program proposed in Chapter 9, Financing, will provide agencies with an incentive to divert materials through waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting; however, an enforcement system is also necessary. A carrot and stick approach is preferred: If administrators are unwilling to embrace the benefits of Pay as You Throw, then they must be penalized through enforcement actions, just as residential communities are. Enforcement could include sanctions to management or employees who knowingly disregard requirements to recycle, reuse or compost, or to follow the waste prevention rules or directives.

The City currently provides free collection to a large number of institutions. These institutions must be required to participate in all waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting programs to the greatest extent possible. Technical assistance to increase waste prevention and purchasing has demonstrated the potential for major savings. If a non-City institution is found to be evading zero waste requirements, DSNY should discontinue collection services, so that the institution will have to hire a commercial waste carter.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Develop strategy to enforce agency and institutional waste prevention, reuse, composting and recycling requirements.

2006: Implement strategy to enforce agency and institutional waste prevention, reuse composting and recycling requirements.

2007: Evaluate progress annually in a City Agency and Institution report.

Commercial Enforcement

Current commercial recycling rules are relatively unenforceable due to a combination of factors and events. Local Law 87 requires commercial waste generators to recycle certain materials, including paper, metal, glass and plastic. After the law was passed several commercial carters developed "post-collection separation" facilities that extracted recyclable components from mixed commercial waste, and the DSNY approved those facilities as adequate for meeting recycling requirements. Several years later, as the commercial carters were bought out by multi-national waste corporations, which prepared to handle the City’s residential waste through the Interim Waste Export Plan, these post-collection separation facilities were effectively dismantled, leaving little commercial recycling infrastructure in New York City.

While the century old scrap metal and paper recycling operations still survive, very little opportunity exists to recycle other commercially generated recyclables. As a result, enforcing the current law, which places the responsibility for recycling on the generator, would effectively punish the victim, as even the most conscientious generator may not have the opportunity to recycle.

As the infrastructure for residential recycling is developed with excess capacity to handle the commercial waste stream and as more enforceable policies are put in place through legislation and regulation (see Chapter 10, Legislation and Regulation), the City should improve commercial recycling requirements, first by ensuring more favorable carting rates for source-separated recyclables and then by stepping up enforcement. Like residential enforcement, commercial recycling enforcement should be educational first and punitive second. It should be targeted not only at the generator, but also at the carting companies and transfer station operators. Carting companies must be required to educate customers about different rates for separated materials. Citizens should be encouraged to report where commercial recycling opportunities do not exist and DSNY should follow up. Rewards could be given to encourage citizens to participate in enforcement, similar to the rewards now given for information on illegal dumping.

Those who separate materials improperly should be fined. Both dumpsters of generators and loads tipped at waste transfer stations should be inspected for recyclable or reusable/durable materials. Any load containing a majority of recoverable materials must be sorted for reuse and recycling. Once instituted, fines must be sufficiently high to stimulate a change in behavior on the part of the commercial establishment, rather than have the fine absorbed as just a cost of doing business. Repeated offenses also need to have increased fines.

Implementation Schedule:

2006: Pass legislation and regulations requiring commercial carters to offer recycling collections at more favorable rates than for trash hauling.

2007: Begin enforcement of new regulations; launch citizen enforcement program.

2008 and beyond: Evaluate status and progress of commercial sector efforts. Modify enforcement as needed.

Transportation Enforcement

The City can use several existing laws to better enforce transportation related violations by DSNY and commercial carters. These include laws restricting excessive noise, requiring use of truck routes, on-street queing, and excessive idling. Enforcing them would be aided by encouraging police officers to issue violations.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Engage assistance of NYPD to issue transportation-related violations.

2006: Launch broad effort to increase enforcement of transportation-related regulations.

2007 and beyond: Continue strong enforcement of transportation related regulations.

Facility Operations Enforcement

A zero waste system requires that wastehandling, recycling and remanufacturing facilities be operated to the highest environmental and worker health and safety standards. This ensures that these facilities are both good neighbors and good employers. City enforcement should ensure that recycling, reuse, composting and waste handling facilities comply with rules and adopt best management practices for clean air, clean water, noise, odor control and worker health and safety.

Implementation Schedule:

2005 and beyond: Increase enforcement of facility operations regulations.

References

Clarke, M. 2004. Optimizing Recycling in All the Neighborhoods of New York City: The Roles of Demographics, Education, Barriers, and Program Changes. Philadelphia: 19^th International Conference on Solid Technology and Management. March 2004.

De Young, R. 1985-1986. Encouraging Environmentally Appropriate Behavior: The Role of Intrinsic Motivation. Journal of Environmental Systems, 15: p. 281-292.

Robinson, D., Director of Recycling for the City of Philadelphia. 2004. Personal Communication.