Seriously stupid

So is there one DOT crew that installs these and another that comes and takes the plastic off? Or did someone just do a half-assed job, which is what I suspect?

Problems with recycling program

From Crains:

New plastic to make water or soda bottles—called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET—typically costs about 10% more than the recycled kind. But since the start of the year, prices for virgin PET—also known as No. 1 plastic—have fallen to 67 cents a pound from 83 cents, according to Plastics News, a sister publication of Crain's. Meanwhile, recycled PET has held steady at 72 cents.

Much of the decline stems from the plunge in oil prices. Consumers understandably rejoiced last year when the price of gasoline fell by half, but oil's drop all but obliterated the economics of pulling out the plastic from the 23,500 tons of trash produced by New Yorkers every day.

But plastic recycling is also a victim of its success. Most recycling programs around the country started modestly, targeting plastics used to contain soda or milk. But in recent years, recycling has grown more ambitious and now includes lower-quality plastics, such as those used for shower curtains, shopping bags and takeout containers. Expansion was good environmental policy, but when high- and low-quality plastics are collected together, they have to be separated by hand, which significantly raises the cost of recycling.

New York City's program of picking up recyclables on curbsides doesn't appear to be in jeopardy. The city has a long-term contract with Sims Municipal Recycling that obligates the vendor to process residents' plastic, glass, cardboard and other items at a Brooklyn waterfront factory that opened 18 months ago. Sims wouldn't comment but told Crain's last year that it was struggling to find markets for rigid plastics, a new addition to the city's recycling program. Some had to be shipped to landfills.

Bag tax revisited

From CBS New York:

It gives new meaning to the four letter word “tote.” New Yorkers will have to shoulder the burden of bringing their own bags to a vast array of supermarkets and department stores — or pay a 10-cent fee for each and every bag — paper or plastic — under sweeping recycling legislation being considered by the city council.

“We could save approximately $10 million a year if we could significantly reduce the amount of plastic shopping bags we use on an annual basis,” Deputy Sanitation Commissioner Ron Gonen said.

Though the $10 million savings means a lot in these tough budget times, the legislation is meant to decrease the burden on landfills and the sanitation system.

Asked to charge consumers the carryout bag fee would be markets and bodegas; street vendors selling fruit, vegetables and general merchandise, and retail stores, including clothing, drug and department stores.

Exempt are restaurants, bags for medication at pharmacies, and liquor stores, Kramer reported.

The exemptions really make no sense. A package of meat bought at a supermarket is likely to leak. A pair of pants purchased at a department store is not.

Recycling not all it's cracked up to be

From Crain's:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg told New Yorkers seven months ago, "If it's a rigid plastic—any rigid plastic—recycle it." But not all of the rigid plastic city residents have been bagging with their metal cans, beer bottles and juice boxes since that announcement is being recycled.

Nearly all of the rigid No. 6 plastic—commonly used in cups, plates and other objects—delivered by the city's trucks to its recycling vendor, Sims Metal Management, has been shipped to dumps because Sims can't sell it.

"Right now that is going to landfill," said Tom Outerbridge, general manager for Sims.

Last April 22 was Mr. Bloomberg's 12th and final Earth Day as mayor, and he doubtless wanted to announce something significant about recycling that week. But the expansion of recycling program to include all rigid plastic was ahead of its time—at least by a few months.

In December, Sims will open a Brooklyn facility that uses optical-sorting technology to automatically separate different kinds of plastic.

"With this plant open, I'm going to be able to start producing straight, segregated loads of [No. 6] polystyrene products and I'm told there will be some people who will buy it," Mr. Outerbridge said.

He acknowledged that it would have been better for Sims and the city to wait until the sorting technology was ready before expanding curbside collection of plastic.

The cost of sending waste to landfills is currently about $85 a ton. That number is expected to rise in the years to come, as landfill space becomes more scarce and transportation costs increase. If Sims continues to struggle to sell No. 6 plastic, it could ask the city to take action, such as encourage the use of PET, a more marketable type of plastic.

"I'm not 100% confident that we are going to have a reliable market" for rigid No. 6, Mr. Outerbridge said." If it comes to that, he said, "I would go to the City Council and say, 'Hey, we tried, and I don't like to be the person to say get rid of this material, but no one will buy this material on an ongoing basis, [so] we would like the city to advance some legislation to transition from [rigid] polystyrene to PET.' "

Now Bloomie is proposing banning styrofoam:

Council pushing disposable bag fee

From the Politicker:

City Councilmembers and advocates announced a plan today to slap a 10 cent charge on all plastic and paper carry-out bags at grocery and retail stores across New York City.

Customers would be required to bring their own bags or pay the fee, which stores would get to pocket, according to the proposed legislation, unveiled this afternoon at City Hall.

The legislation, which will be formally introduced at a Council meeting Thursday, is aimed at reigning in “wasteful” plastic bag use in the city, where it’s not uncommon for grocery stores to double-bag single quarts of milk.

According to the bill’s proponents, New Yorkers use approximately 5.2 billion plastic bags per year–the vast majority of which are not recycled. The city also spends an estimated $10 million a year to transport those 100,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills each year, they said.

“Many agree that it is time to move forward on addressing this environmentally-harmful problem,” the group said in a release.

The legislation would also force the city to begin widespread distribution of free, reusable bags. Restaurants would be exempt from the rule, Stores that break the rules twice would be slapped with $250 fines.

A spokesman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose support is likely necessary for the bills to pass, declined to say whether or not she supports the bills.

A spokesman for the mayor said the office is reviewing the legislation.

New recycling rules for plastic

From NYC.gov:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway and Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty [Wednesday] announced the expansion of the City’s recycling program to include for the first time the recycling of all rigid plastics, including toys, hangers, shampoo bottles, coffee cups and food containers. The expansion of plastics recycling – which begins today – is part of the City’s Solid Waste Management Plan and is made possible, in part, through a partnership with SIMS Municipal Recycling whose recycling facilities are equipped to handle the broad range of plastic recycling. The recycling expansion will result in more than 50,000 additional tons of waste a year no longer ending up in landfills at a savings to City taxpayers of almost $600,000 each year in export costs, and for rigid plastics, it is recommended that New Yorkers should rinse and recycle it.

“Starting today, if it’s a rigid plastic – any rigid plastic – recycle it,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “There is no more worrying about confusing numbers on the bottom of the container. This means that 50,000 tons of plastics that we were sending to landfills every year will now be recycled and it will save taxpayers almost $600,000 in export costs each year.”

More recycling coming soon

From DNA Info:

New York City will start recycling more plastics soon, letting New Yorkers put more than just plastic bottles and jugs in their recycling bins.

The move comes after several years of plummeting recycling rates — as low as 9 percent in East Harlem in 2011 — and a recent push by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to improve the city's recycling performance.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Sanitation confirmed the change, but would not specify when.

"The Department is planning to add more plastics for recycling in the near future," spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins said in an e-mail.

Exactly what types of plastics will be included have yet to be announced, Dawkins said.

The Sanitation Department currently accepts only plastic jugs and bottles for recycling. Other commonly used plastics — like yogurt containers, frozen food trays and plastic cups — need to be thrown out.

Coney Island to get plastic planks

From the NY Post:

Plastic is the new wood, a judge has decided — at least when it comes to Coney Island’s boardwalk.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Martin Solomon has green- lighted the city’s plan to replace five blocks of the historic — but rickety — structure with concrete and recycled-plastic planks, according to court documents made public yesterday.

Some Brooklynites were quick to slam the decision.

“The Coney Island boardwalk is nostalgic, and it’s famous world-round,” fumed Todd Dobrin, president of a group called Friends of the Boardwalk.

“I don’t think tourists are going to come to see the Coney Island driveway.”

Photo from Kinetic Carnival

Group pushes for plastic bag ban

From WPIX:

The same people behind the brand new plastic bag ban/paper bag charge law that went into effect in San Francisco on Monday, have their sights set on New York City.

Environmental group Clean Seas Coalition says disturbing images like plastic patches swirling in the Pacific Ocean to plastic bags hanging in trees in Central Park has them pushing to ban those bags for good across the country.

So who stands to profit from the plan? That varies from city to city. Romer says depending on the structure of the ordinance, the money will either go to the retailer or to the city to create some kind of environmental fund.

The plan pushes people to pick up reusable bags. While customers can buy the reusable ones at Gristedes Market in Midtown Manhattan, they blow through the free plastic ones.

But in the end, will it be money wasted, or more paper and plastic trashed?