Transform Don’t Trash
ABOUT
The Transform Don’t Trash NYC coalition is dedicated to transforming New York City’s commercial trash industry to reduce waste and pollution, foster clean and healthy communities for all New Yorkers, and create good jobs.
SUCCESSES
In 2019, we won NYC’s Commercial Waste Zones legislation, which regulates private waste companies notorious for exploiting workers, wreaking havoc on our streets, and polluting our neighborhoods. Under the new law, the Department of Sanitation will create 20 zones across the city, selecting no more than three carters to collect trash in each commercial zone of the city. Zoned collection will cut private garbage truck traffic by more than half. In choosing waste haulers for each zone, the city will weigh companies’ past compliance with regulations and their proposals to improve safety, reduce waste, and transition to zero-emission trucks. Sanitation companies will be required to pay fair wages and provide every worker with extensive safety training. Carters will also be required to dump their waste only at facilities that meet rigorous safety and health standards.
CURRENT CAMPAIGNS:
Our Transform Don’t Trash NYC coalition, which played a critical role in the bill’s passage, is calling for an urgent and equitable rollout of the full zone system for safe working conditions, safe streets, and clean air. More than 5 years after Local Law 199 was passed, just one commercial waste zone has been implemented — a pilot program introduced in Queens in January 2025. We’re calling for no more delays — Mayor Adams and the Department of Sanitation must implement and enforce the Commercial Waste Zones law across all 20 zones.
COALITION PARTNERS
ALIGN, Families for Safe Streets, New York Lawyers for Public Interest, National Resource Defense Council, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Teamsters Joint Council 16, Transportation Alternatives
HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?
For more information about this coalition, contact Jenille Scott at jenille@alignny.org, and visit transformdonttrashnyc.org