New York City studying other major cities to improve trash collection

By Tim McNicholas

Click here for updates on this story

    NEW YORK (WCBS) — New York City has unveiled its latest plan to deal with trash and rats.

Officials are also looking at best practices from cities around the world. So, CBS2’s Tim McNicholas decided to do the same to find out what’s working.

“It makes the streets look horrible, attracts rats and roaches,” said Norbert Bives.

“It sucks that it’s out on the street,” said Matthew Jong.

“I don’t know what the alternative would be,” said Will Brooks.

But there are alternatives – including some that have caught City Hall’s attention.

Take Barcelona, Spain for example, where resident leave their garbage in large covered bins on the sidewalk until it’s collected by sanitation trucks.

CBS2 has learned New York City officials are looking into how or if a similar approach could work here.

“We’re gonna continue to look at how to use containers more, how to really take garbage off our street,” said Mayor Eric Adams.

In the meantime, Adams announced the city will reduce the amount of time garbage bags are allowed on the sidewalk.

Currently, trash can be left out starting at 4 p.m. the day before pickup. Starting in April, it will be 8 p.m., or 6 p.m. for trash left in an individual garbage bin.

“Keeping our streets cleaner for a longer period of time and discouraging rodents from running their own version of what we like to say open restaurants,” said Adams.

Rat sightings in the city are up more than 70 percent since 2020.

The city is also looking into garbage containers used in some parts of Amsterdam. They look like regular garbage bins, but there’s more space underground.

The solutions aren’t fool proof.

“You don’t want containerization to go wrong. It’s gonna get done in New York City, but we have to study it. We have to have a plan and we have to make sure that it works,” said DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

City Hall committed to a pilot program to try garbage containers in parts of all five boroughs. The city also said it’s ramping up enforcement against people who break garbage rules.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.