Ask most New Yorkers if they've been woken up by the sound of trucks collecting waste in the middle of the night, and you'd likely hear a resounding "yes!" Gavin Kearney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest's part of a coalition called Transform Don't Trash NYC. He says the city's current "open" commercial waste system requires businesses to individually contract for their waste collection.
"We have hundreds of waste collection companies driving across the same streets every day, generating totally unnecessary truck traffic, totally unnecessary impacts on air quality, on quality of life, on community."
The coalition's calling on the city to consolidate waste collection to boost recycling. They're asking the city to include a 70% recycling goal in its sustainability plan, up for renewal next month.
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