NYC small businesses getting trashed by waste management: report

Dive Brief:

Today, the Transform Don't Trash NYC coalition released a report which states that small businesses face faulty service, unfair pricing, and inadequate recycling from the city's private waste disposal companies.
400 small business owners were surveyed from more than 20 neighborhoods in the city. Most responded that they are charged "arbitrary prices rather than standard rates," while 61% of the owners said they do not even have a waste management contract.
Small business owners are looking for the city to reform the way that waste management is handled. Currently, the Department of Sanitation services residential properties, however small businesses are left to deal with private contractors. They wish to access the larger, more effective services that cater to large businesses.

Dive Insight:

Transform Don't Trash NYC is a campaign to increase recycling, create jobs, and fairly deal with waste in the five boroughs of New York City, according to its website.

"Every night, thousands of commercial garbage trucks from these companies crisscross New York City’s streets collecting garbage and recyclables with great inefficiency and little accountability ... Despite a major overhaul two decades ago, intended to eradicate the organized crime associated with the industry, standards to ensure that private haulers process waste sustainably, transparently, and at a fair price are greatly lacking," the website states.

However, some of the inefficiency may be due to small businesses voluntarily not signing a waste disposal contract. "Many customers prefer not to have written contracts with their carter. This allows them to drop their carter more easily," said SWANA CEO David Biderman in an e-mail. "If New York City wants to amend its regulations to require written contracts, I suspect the industry would support that instead of franchising."

The Department of Sanitation will need to combat this issue and find a compromise with Transform Don't Trash NYC in order to restore peace among small businesses and move the city toward its goal of reaching zero waste by 2030.