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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. released today the first in-depth evaluation of the Department of Sanitation’s (DOS) residential refuse and recycling costs, outlining how the reinstatement of a full-scale recycling program could save the City more than $16 million in fiscal year 2004.

Thompson’s analysis reveals that if DOS maintains the volume of full-scale recycling achieved in fiscal year 2002, recycling costs would average $126 per ton in fiscal year 2004. In comparison, the City’s refuse cost would average $174 per ton – $48 per ton more expensive than full-scale recycling. The report was sent to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and the Chairs of the City Council’s Finance and Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Committees.

“It is time for the Department of Sanitation to reinstate glass and plastic recycling, not just plastic,” Comptroller Thompson said. “My analysis shows that, using the most recent cost estimates available, a full-scale recycling program is more cost-effective compared to what the City spends on refuse disposal.”

The Comptroller’s analysis comes shortly after Hugo Neu, a scrap exporting company, announced a new processing bid for metal, glass and plastic recycling of $51 per ton – $31 per ton less than what the City anticipated spending in fiscal year 2002, before it suspended glass and plastic recycling. The Comptroller’s report demonstrates that the average processing cost of recycling paper, metal, glass and plastic will be $20 per ton, while the average refuse disposal fee will be $108 per ton in fiscal year 2004. Further, the Comptroller points out that Hugo Neu could also lower DOS’s recycling collection costs if DOS uses its Marine Transfer Stations to access Hugo Neu’s barge-accessible facilities in Queens and the Bronx.

Thompson’s report analyzes the collection and processing costs of waste and recycling under three different scenarios:

• The recycling of paper and metal and disposal of refuse.
  
• The recycling of paper, metal and plastic and the disposal of refuse.
  
• The recycling of paper, metal, glass and plastic and the disposal of refuse.

Thompson’s report analyzes the estimated costs of these three waste management options under “high” and “low” recycling diversion, or volume, rates. The most expensive of the scenarios would be to continue a paper and metal recycling program with lower recycling diversion rates, with an estimated cost of nearly $566 million.

According to the Comptroller’s analysis, the estimated cost of recycling paper, metal and plastic in fiscal year 2004 would be more than $560 million. Although this is a cheaper solution than continuing the City’s current recycling program, it is still more expensive than the reinstitution of full-scale recycling, which, under low recycling diversion rates, would cost the City approximately $553 million. This would generate a savings of more than $7 million.

Additionally, Thompson’s analysis reveals that full-scale recycling has become more cost-effective, in part due to increasing refuse disposal fees and the cost of transporting refuse to distant waste transfer stations and incinerators in New Jersey and on Long Island. DOS has reported that the average cost to dispose of residential waste increased by $17 per ton from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2002. The citywide average disposal fee, which was $66 per ton in fiscal year 2002, is projected to rise to $69 per ton by fiscal year 2004. The disposal fee for refuse from Brooklyn will rise to $75 per ton by fiscal year 2004. Thompson’s evaluation forecasts that refuse disposal rates will continue to escalate as other short-term waste disposal contracts begin to expire.

“Simply put, as the cost of waste goes up, the cost of recycling goes down,” Thompson said. “This is no longer only a smart environmental decision. The reinstatement of a full-scale recycling program next year will help save precious dollars during this difficult fiscal time.”

Further, Thompson’s analysis reveals that increasing recycling diversion rates lowers DOS’s operational costs. If in fiscal year 2004 the City achieves the same diversion rates it achieved in fiscal year 2002, the recycling program will cost $549 million next year - $16 million less expensive than continuing the paper and metal recycling program under low diversion rates.

“The repeated changes to the recycling program have clearly resulted in confusion for many New Yorkers,” Thompson said. “I urge DOS to maintain a stable recycling program, increase public awareness of recycling regulations and target those who violate the program’s requirements.”

Since early April, Thompson’s office has offered to meet with DOS to help determine the discrepancies that may exist in DOS’s books. DOS has yet to respond. Thompson’s report indicates that, for DOS to refute his cost estimates, the agency would have to release more data for public review than it has been willing to provide up to this point.

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