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

Reuse is the recovery of materials and products for the same or a similar end use. It involves taking useful products, such as furniture, books and appliances, discarded by those who no longer want or need them and redistributing them to those who do. In contrast to recycling, which recovers materials for processing, reuse recovers the original product. Reuse, therefore, primarily involves collection and redistribution of goods. Repair is often another function of reuse operations, when durable goods need only minimal repair to be fully functioning again.

Every year hundreds of thousands of tons of perfectly useful items are thrown away in New York City at an enormous cost to taxpayers and businesses. A recent report prepared for the City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) estimated that more than 700,000 tons of reusables are disposed of in NYC’s system every year at a cost that could exceed $50 million annually (Science Application International Corporation, 2000). See Table 1.

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Table 1: Estimated Tonnage of Reusable Items in NYC Residential/Institutional Waste __________________________________________________________________________

REUSABLES Tons per year

Furniture & Furnishings 217,790

Major appliances 42,317

Small appliances 21,750

Carpets & rugs 67,011

Clothing & footwear 114,324

Towels, sheets & pillowcases 18,556

Pallets & wood containers 254,388

Total Tonnage 736,136

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Source: Science Application International Corporation, 2000

The SAIC report did not include the commercial sector, only the residential and institutional sectors. Used building materials are also not included in the list above. Thus, the potential of reuse is likely more than 736,000 tons per year (or greater than 2000 tons per day), even if we assume a large portion is not reusable but recyclable instead (Science Applications International Corporation, 2000). In spite of this potential, to date, the City has offered only the most minimal support to reuse operations. As a result, NYC is currently capturing and diverting only a small fraction of the reusables in the waste stream. In reusing, NYC is failing just as the nation is. It is estimated that for the nation, 85% of reusables were sent for disposal in 1994 (Platt, 1997). To get to zero waste, we will have to significantly expand support for reuse.

Reuse is a strategy that has benefits for the City of New York on many levels. It eliminates waste, reduces waste disposal costs, and conserves energy and materials. Reuse also offers great benefits to low-income people, non-profit organizations, and others operating on tight budgets, like NYC schools, which can gain access to quality products and materials.  The value of goods obtained for these groups through reuse operations is in the millions of dollars. As an economic development strategy, supporting reuse operations, puts dollars into the local economy rather than putting money into trucking waste out of state. At the same time, the educational value of reuse operations is enormous. People see in a very concrete way the value of recovering goods, rather than just disposing of them.

In addition to social and environmental impacts, the economic potential of creating and retaining jobs through reuse is enormous. Using an analysis by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), if only half of the 736,136 tons of durable goods produced in the City were reused within the City, over 3,000 jobs could be created for people refurbishing and reselling used items. Our calculation is based on ratio of jobs to reusables in the ILSR report: 220,000 jobs created for 25.5 million tons

(Platt, 1997). Additional jobs could be created by deconstructing buildings and reusing building materials, a process that is just beginning to catch on in NYC.

The most noted example of a successful reuse operation is Berkeley’s Urban Ore, which receives a wide variety of reusables, including furniture, lamps, windows and other building materials and resells them to the public. Supported initially by the City of Berkeley, CA, it is now a thriving business, receiving no subsidies. About half of the four hundred tons of reusables per day it receives is delivered directly by the City of Berkeley. The other half is received from private sources. The operation utilizes a three-acre site and generates $1.6 million per year in sales. There are 32 employees and a $750,000 annual payroll. Berkeley currently pays $70-75 to dispose of waste, but when it delivers reusables to Urban Ore, it only pays $25 per ton (Knapp, 2004).

The success of reuse requires developing the reuse infrastructure and raising public awareness.

New York City has a network of small but successful reuse programs already in place. Reuse enterprises range from non-profit programs to for-profit businesses and include thrift stores, used equipment stores, reuse centers, salvage yards, refurbishers, food recovery and distribution, and on-line material exchanges and web posting sites. While they are limited in resources, these programs have had a significant impact. The programs include:

• NY Wa$teMatch, an online materials exchange and solid waste reduction program, matches valuable industrial discards and surplus goods from waste generators to the businesses and organizations that can reuse them, providing businesses with savings of more than $700,000 in 2003 (Etienne, 2004).
• City Harvest, a food rescue program redistributed over 10,000 tons of consumable food to the hungry in 2002/03, through a network of over 800 emergency food programs located throughout NYC (City Harvest, 2003).
• Materials for the Arts, a materials exchange, has redistributed more than 500 tons in

• Tools for Schools, accepts office furniture, equipment and supplies and sells them to schools, non-profits and individuals; it has transferred over $5 million worth of goods in its 11 years of operation (Etienne, 2004).
• Per Scholas reconditions end of life computer equipment, then redistributes systems to low income families, NYC schools and non-profits, while also training community members to become certified computer technicians. (Etienne, 2004)
• ARROW Reuse Center for Building Materials in only six months of operations diverted more than 42 tons of reusable building materials, valued at $77,000, from the waste stream and sold them to homeowners, landlords and artists (Etienne, 2004). This project was created by a Queens community-based organization under the Waste Prevention/Recycling Coordinator program. All programs officially ended in October of 2003 after City funding discontinued.

• Recycle A Bicycle, a bicycle repair training program, has not only kept bicycles out of the waste stream and in the hands of youth that will use them, but also has taught skills and a marketable trade to youth (www.recycleabicycle).

The Reuse Alliance, a regional reuse sector development organization, is providing training and resources to build the capabilities of existing reuse enterprises and is raising public awareness about reuse. These programs demonstrate interest in and support for reuse within the City. (Etienne, 2004) However, a zero waste system requires a more significant investment in developing and promoting reuse operations. To date, the City has offered, for the most part, only minimal support. To get to zero, we must expand these programs substantially and promote reuse broadly as a good business and environmental strategy. A network of reuse outlets also provides an opportunity to distribute information about other zero waste programs. Chapter 6, Education, proposes expanded reuse education activities that would support the programs and infrastructure proposed here.

A comprehensive reuse program that would capture more of the reusable segment of the waste stream requires considerable infrastructure development and technical and financial support from the City. We envision both municipal sorting facilities and community managed reuse complexes supported by both municipal and supplementary truck fleets. Technical and financial assistance through the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), a job-training program, swap shops and events, and on-line trading of reusables round out the overall program. Specifically the reuse program will include:

• Reuse Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs): will sort or "triage" durable and reusable goods and make them available to reuse complexes. Repair of some durables could be done at MRFs or at the reuse complexes discussed below.
• Community-Based Reuse Complexes: will provide warehouse and retail space for the City’s existing reuse programs, enabling expansion of their operations, as well as for new reuse operations.
• Reuse Collections: Through both a municipal curbside bulky goods collection and a supplementary Reuse Fleet.
• Job Training/Apprenticeship Programs: will prepare job seekers for jobs in reuse.
• On-Line Trading of Reusables: will enhance City agency reuse and enable residents to trade reusables on-line.
• Neighborhood Reuse Swap Shops and Events: will include neighborhood yard sales or swap events, as well as year-round community swap shops.
• Technical Assistance Program: will support reuse development organizations, providing both a dedicated staff and a capital fund for research, development and demonstration projects.
• A "Seal of Approval" program: will assure quality control of reused goods.

Reuse Sorting Facilities or Reuse MRFs (Material Recovery Facilities)

Reuse Sorting Facilities, also known as Reuse MRFs, are envisioned as the first stop for durable and reusable goods, collected through DSNY’s regular bulky goods special collections and through drop-offs from businesses and residents. Reuse MRFs would act as triage centers to sort and evaluate incoming goods for their best use and need for repair. Then the goods would be distributed to reuse complexes. Materials in need of repair would be directed to those programs facilitating repair of different types of goods. Reuse MRFs could be located within or in close proximity to reuse complexes. A dedicated reuse truck fleet would be part of the operation of these facilities. Reuse MRFs could be municipally operated or this service could be contracted out to a private entity.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Identify site for first Reuse MRF

2006: Open first Reuse MRF; establish sorting protocol; establish links to reuse complex and other market outlets; begin identifying site for next Reuse MRF

2007: Open second Reuse MRF; begin identifying site for next Reuse MRF

2008: Open third Reuse MRF; begin identifying site for next complex

2009: Open fourth Reuse MRF; begin identifying site for fifth Reuse MRF

2010: Open fifth Reuse MRF.

2011 and beyond: Support Reuse MRFs; evaluate capacity needs for additional MRFs.

Community-Based Reuse Complexes

The City should develop and support a network of community-based reuse complexes to provide warehouse and retail space that will both enable existing reuse programs to expand, and provide incubator space for additional reuse enterprises. Modeled on what it has done in the case of the Hunts Point Markets (fish, produce and meat), the City would provide land and buildings at a minimal cost, as well as enhanced technical and business services. The complexes would be developed in each borough and accept materials from residential and commercial generators. Consumers could bring computers here, for example, and materials from agencies and institutions could be incorporated once regulatory hurdles are cleared (see Chapter 10, Legislation and Regulation). The City would assist with financing central administrative costs, enabling reuse complexes to work with and support other reuse enterprises and swap shops and obtain cost savings by shared operations. The City would use avoided disposal costs to help finance central administrative costs of these complexes and thereby provide basic operating support for all the reuse operations discussed in this chapter. They would be fed by the dedicated truck fleet described below. Each reuse complex would include an educational component, such as a zero waste resource library.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Identify site for first reuse complex; establish partnerships with existing reuse programs/organizations.

2006: Open first reuse complex; establish standard operating procedures; establish links to local customer base, and create a toolkit for other centers; track value of goods transferred; begin identifying sites for next complex.

2007: Open second complex, begin identifying sites for next complex.

2008: Open third complex, begin identifying site for next complex

2009: Open fourth complex, begin identifying site for fifth complex.

2010: Open fifth complex and evaluate capacity needs for additional complexes.

Municipal Curbside Collection for Reusables and Durables

Many municipalities have a separate collection day for bulky goods, including durable and reusable items. We are recommending a dedicated collection program that would provide goods

to the Reuse MRFs and Reuse Complexes described above. Essential to the usefulness of this dedicated collection is attention to preserving the quality of reusable goods--as received at the curb--all the way until they arrive at the reuse enterprises.

Implementation Schedule:

2006: Pilot residential bulky goods collection in borough of first reuse complex and MRF; include evaluation of on-call pick-ups compared to separate collection days.

2007: Establish preferred collections in 2 boroughs with reuse MRFs/complexes; include small businesses.

2008: Add collections for third borough with reuse MRF/complex; include small businesses.

2009: Add collections for fourth borough with reuse MRF/complex; include small businesses.

2010: Add collections for fifth borough with reuse MRF/complex; include small businesses.

2012 and beyond: Sustain collections in all boroughs.

Supplementary Reuse Fleet

The City would purchase a fleet of alternative fuel, non-compacting box trucks (and hire drivers) that would be based at the Reuse MRFs /Complexes described above, and would pickup reusables and take them to a reuse outlet or move them from a reuse outlet to a new user. This fleet could supplement the DSNY curbside bulky goods collection described above to provide a separate collection and delivery fleet for the reuse operations. These services would be fee-for-service for businesses. The fleet should begin with 5 trucks per complex and increase as necessary to meet the demands of the reuse operations and the public.

Implementation Schedule:

2006: Purchase 5 or more trucks and hire drivers for first reuse MRF and complex.

2007: Purchase 5 trucks and hire drivers for second reuse MRF and complex; maintain existing trucks and drivers.

2008: Purchase 5 trucks and hire drivers for third reuse MRF and complex; maintain existing trucks and drivers; identify and address additional trucking needs for first 2 MRFs.

2009: Purchase 5 trucks and hire drivers for fourth reuse complex; maintain existing trucks and drivers.

2010: Purchase 5 trucks and hire drivers for fifth reuse complex; maintain existing trucks and drivers.

2011 and beyond: Maintain trucks and drivers; identify and address additional trucking needs as they arise.

State Approved Job Training and Apprenticeship Programs

Reuse operations need workers trained in commercial driving, forklift operations, equipment operations, logistics, inspection, grading, disassembly and repair. In addition, emerging reuse industries, such as building deconstruction, need a trained workforce.

Building deconstruction, in contrast to demolition, is the process of dismantling a building in order to salvage materials for resale or reuse. In recent years, a variety of economic and environmental factors have spurred renewed interest in deconstruction by entrepreneurs, contractors and policy makers. Entrepreneurs have sought to benefit from the growing market for high quality (and sometimes scarce) building materials, particularly old-growth wood and other materials that are no longer available, while demolition contractors have sought to manage rising costs for waste disposal. The deconstruction training program would enable vocational schools, community based organizations, unions and others to train people of all ages, so that they could be hired by reuse complexes and Reuse MRFs, as well as deconstruction and demolition contractors. Training programs would target the populations most in need and should be developed in consultation with existing reuse programs and support organizations to target the right skills and materials.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Hire a Training Development Specialist to develop a training and certification package.

2006: Develop a training model, identify suitable training sites (e.g., vocational schools, reuse operators, community colleges) and develop curriculum for training programs.

2007: Implement the first training program at a site near a reuse complex.

2008: Adapt and revise program; implement in schools around the City as reuse complexes are developed (see timeline above).

2009 and beyond: Adapt, revise and sustain program.

On-line Systems for Trading Reusables

NY Wa$teMatch has developed an on-line brokerage system that enables commercial entities to buy, sell or trade recyclables and reusables on-line. This automated system has dramatically increased diversion of materials and thereby helped businesses reduce their costs. It should be expanded, or a similar system developed, to cater specifically to residential and institutional generators and to enable businesses to donate to non-profit organizations. This on-line system would also be linked to the reuse complexes, allowing reuse operators to advertise their materials to key target audiences.

Enhance NYC City agency reuse through on-line system and trucking

We recommend that NYC develop an inventory database and on-line tracking system for reusables, such as furniture and furnishings, office supplies, etc., generated by City agencies, such as the Department of Health and the Board of Education. City agencies should be required to search that system before purchasing new furniture, supplies, etc. A fleet of alternative fuel trucks should be purchased to enable the agencies to get the reusables from one location to another.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Develop inventory tracking and online GIS-driven trading system, preferably adapting existing software packages (NY Wa$teMatch); provide sufficient technical support for the new system; track value of goods transferred.

2006: Purchase 5 trucks and hire drivers.

2007 and beyond: Support system, including trucks and drivers.

Create residential on-line reusables trading system

Robert Lange, Director of the Bureau of Waste Prevention Recycling and Composting at DSNY, has indicated that the City plans to develop an interactive on—line system as part of its existing telephone-based Stuff Exchange (Lange, 2004). Like NY Wa$teMatch for businesses, this system would enable individuals to trade reusable household items on-line.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Develop or preferably adapt (NY Wa$teMatch), software to target residential waste streams and pilot test system.

2006 and beyond: Implement and maintain the system; track value of goods transferred.

Neighborhood Reuse Events and Swap Shops

Neighborhood swap events or yard sales can facilitate the exchange of reusable goods and information related to reuse. They can be organized by the Waste Prevention Coordinators described in Chapter 1, Waste Prevention. Coordinators should arrange for the reuse fleets described above to collect items remaining at the end of these events.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Develop a toolkit and outreach program and engage waste prevention coordinators, reuse organizations and others to coordinate periodic, neighborhood and Citywide swaps.

2006 and beyond: Expand program as coordinators are placed city-wide.

Establish Community Thrift and Swap Shops

Community swap shops would enable neighbors to trade reusable items locally, year-round. They could be established in housing complexes, community centers, recreation centers, or other high-traffic common spaces. These shops could also stock items to be lent or rented, such as tools and equipment, and could sell repaired items from the reuse MRFs/Complexes. In addition, the centers could serve as drop-off sites for materials en route to the reuse MRFs/Complexes and thus would be integrated into the larger reuse infrastructure being developed. Community swap shops would be networked with the Reuse complexes for administrative support.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Identify five community districts to pilot test; locate appropriate and available space.

2006: Open Swap Shops in 5 districts.

2007: Open shops in 10 additional districts, support 5 existing; evaluate impacts and results of swap shops and adapt implementation plans and schedules accordingly.

2008: Open shops in 10 additional districts, support 15 existing.

2009: Open shops in 15 additional districts, support 25 existing; evaluate impacts and results of swap shops and adapt implementation plans and schedules accordingly.

2010: Open shops in 15 additional districts, support 40 existing.

2011: Open shops in 4 remaining districts, support 55 existing; evaluate impacts and results of swap shops and adapt implementation plans and schedules accordingly.

2012 and beyond: Support 59 existing swap shops.

Technical Assistance and Support for the Reuse Sector

New York City’s existing and emerging reuse enterprises need support services. We recommend financial support for reuse operations and businesses as well as for reuse development organizations that provide tools and resources to reuse enterprises. Reuse businesses, non-profits and their support organizations need technical assistance.

We also recommend that the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) establish a technical assistance unit for reuse with a dedicated staff of five and a capital fund. The unit would assist in business planning, financing, market development, and particularly, helping businesses and reuse development organizations, advance their products and services to New York City agencies and institutions. The capital fund would be modeled on Empire State Development's Environmental Management Investment Group (EMIG) and would provide grants for research, development and demonstration, and capital projects with an emphasis on reuse. 

Implementation Schedule:

2005: Establish EDC technical assistance for reuse division and capital pool.

2006 and beyond: Financially support EDC division and capital pool.

Quality Control Standards and Quality Assurance Labeling for Reusables

To build both consumer confidence in product integrity and markets for reusable items, NYC must develop a standardized system of processing with quality assurance and quality control. Working with the reuse sector in NYC and the public the City should develop a "Seal of Approval" that indicates that a reused item meets quality control standards. We recommend hiring an independent contractor to develop these standards and the mechanisms needed to put such a system in place.

Implementation Schedule:

2005: RFP for an independent contractor to develop standards and implementation mechanisms, in conjunction with the reuse sector and the public.

2007: Roll out "Seal of Approval" program with most important reusable products first.

2008: Engage marketing and PR support (see Chapter 6, Education) to establish recognition of Seal.

2009 and beyond: Monitor and evaluate program every two years and make needed corrections.

References

City Harvest. 2003. http://www.cityharvest.org

Etienne, M., Reuse Alliance. Personal communication. March 2004.

Knapp, D.,Urban Ore. Personal communication. March 2004.

Lange, R., Head of the Recycling Office of the City of New York Department of Sanitation. Personal Communication. May 2004.

Platt, B. 1997. Creating Wealth from Everyday Items. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Local Self-Reliance. p 1.

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). 2000. Characterization of New York City’s Solid Waste Stream.