Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Intro. 1574-A into law on Wednesday, capping a six-year effort to establish a commercial waste zone system in New York City.
The bill’s original version divided the City into a minimum of 20 zones, within which a single carting company would hold the exclusive right to collect trash. GNYHA argued that this would have raised costs, reduced choice, and created chaos for City health care providers.
The final law includes two major changes. First, it permits the Department of Sanitation to allow up to five carters to collect waste stored in containers with a capacity of 10 cubic yards or more from any commercial establishment (including hospitals), regardless of location. Second, it permits up to three carters per waste zone.
GNYHA spent months advocating for these changes and supported the final legislation. We believe the law resolves the major issues our New York City members faced in the original bill.