Sanchez questions Anderson on waste stream categorization effectiveness
Sanchez asks whether DSNY's waste categorization by product type remains effective and whether the agency is exploring new categorization methods. Anderson says the current approach works well because it aligns with remanufacturing markets and will be refined in the next waste characterization study.
Okay, so is the way that the department categorizes its waste streams, for example, metal, glass, plastic, textiles, and organics, still effective?
Is the agency exploring new ways to categorize waste to facilitate sorting and other downstream disposal and recycling processes?
Yeah, we think that the categorization that we've used, which is generally based on product type, is very effective because at the end of the day, we are trying to produce materials for markets to remanufacture those products into new products.
So when we do our waste characterization study next year, for example, we will try to identify, you know, looking at the plastics, what kinds of plastics are in the waste stream.
And then think about, you know, are there markets for those plastics?
Are we successfully, are New Yorkers successfully separating those products in their home?
Are we successfully sorting them at our material recovery facility?
And ultimately, are those getting turned into new products down the road?
So we think it's successful, yes.