NW&RA questions New York City franchising push

The Washington-based National Waste & Recycling Association (NW&RA) says it “strongly disagrees” with a report that recommends New York City franchise commercial waste collection in the city.

 

Regarding the recommendation by a group known as the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) to franchise commercial waste in New York City, the NW&RA says “there would not be any cost savings,” adding that the CBC “does not adequately explain how it calculated what it called a ‘modest’ $26 million savings from franchising.”

 

“Contrary to the CBC’s suggestion, assigning commercial franchises to a small number of carters in each district will not lead to a reduction in collection costs,” says Thomas Toscano, chair of NW&RA’s New York City Chapter and the chief financial officer of Mr. T Carting, a family-owned and operated waste management and recycling business serving the New York Metro area. “Just the opposite will occur. If waste removal is franchised, New York City’s businesses, especially small businesses struggling to survive, will bear the burden because they will pay higher collection costs. This is borne out by the waste industry’s experience around the country.”

 

Toscano says NW&RA, an organization consisting mainly of private sector solid waste and recycling companies, supports other recommendations in the CBC report that would make waste collection in New York City more cost efficient and notes that the CBC’s report admits that “the high number of private-sector waste carters in the city has kept prices relatively low.” Toscano adds, “We want to work with the DSNY (Department of Sanitation of New York) and others to reduce waste collection costs for waste generators in New York City.”

 

In the announcement accompanying its report, the CBC says “redesigning municipal waste collection policies would save about $300 million annually” in New York City.

 

A copy of the CBC’s September 2014 report can be found here.