The Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, has unveiled a new sustainability plan for the US city, which includes zero waste to landfill by 2030 and a switch to co-mingled recycling.

The plans form part of ‘OneNYC: The Plan for a Strong and Just City’, a ‘comprehensive plan for a sustainable and resilient city for all New Yorkers that addresses the profound social, economic, and environmental challenges ahead’, which was launched yesterday (22 April) to coincide with Earth Day 2015.

OneNYC expands on existing sustainability plans, and seeks to reduce the environmental impact of the city, reduce poverty, boost a sustainable economy, and tackle income inequality.

Waste reduction plans

In terms of waste, the plan seeks to:

• send zero waste to landfill by 2030;
• switch from dual-stream (paper and card in one bin and other dry recyclables in another) kerbside recycling to single-stream recycling by 2020 (in an effort to boost the city’s current recycling rate, which sits around 15 per cent);
• expand kerbside organics collection (food and garden waste) to serve all New Yorkers by the end of 2018;
• expand anaerobic digestion (AD) and community composting opportunities;
• construct new recycling centres at all New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments;
• reduce the use of plastic bags and other non-compostable waste;
• reduce business waste disposal by 90 per cent by 2030 through initiatives such as mandatory food waste collections and voluntary ‘Zero Waste Challenge’ programmes;
• make all schools ‘Zero Waste Schools’ by diverting waste from landfill and educating students on recycling and waste reduction;
• expand opportunities to reuse and recycle textiles and electronic waste through the re-fashioNYC and e-cycleNYC programmes; and
• evaluate the possibility of introducing a ‘save-as-you-throw’ scheme, that would reward those who waste less and recycle more.

Other aims for the sustainability ‘vision’ of the plan include:

• reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 (based on 2005 levels);
• reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by 30 per cent by 2025, and charting a long-term path away from fossil fuels;
• achieving best air-quality ranking among major US cities by 2030;
• cleaning up contaminated land to ‘address disproportionately high exposures [to environmental contaminants] in low-income communities and convert land to safe and beneficial use’; and
• reducing risks of flooding in the most affected communities.

The OneNYC plan also looks to improve social equality and reduce poverty through a range of actions, such as creating half a million homes by 2040, creating 1.8 million jobs within 45 minutes of public transport, and improving access to physical and mental healthcare.

‘A sustainable and resilient city for all residents’

It reads: ‘OneNYC charts a course for a sustainable and resilient city for all its residents, and addresses the profound social, economic, and environmental issues that we face. Through OneNYC, we pledge to keep the promise of opportunity that has made our city such a remarkable place for so many generations.

‘OneNYC is what New Yorkers need now and for the next century. We recognize that we do not control all the levers and cannot alone eliminate poverty or greenhouse gas emissions. So we will engage the private sector, rally our people, and leverage our strength as a region, while committing the significant tools at our disposal, to meet our goals.

‘We cannot fix what is before us overnight. But we can lead the way. OneNYC is the first step.’

‘Environmental and economic sustainability must go hand in hand’

Launching the 332-page document yesterday, Mayor de Blasio said: “Environmental and economic sustainability must go hand in hand – and OneNYC is the blueprint to ensure they do…

“We are laying out specific goals to make sure that as we build a stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient city, we are also creating a more equitable one. From our unprecedented goal of lifting 800,000 New Yorkers out of poverty, to sweeping environmental initiatives such as zero waste, the cleanest air of any large city, and a dramatic reduction in emissions, this is a bold and ambitious plan – and New York City requires nothing less.”

He added: “OneNYC builds on the strong foundation created by the Bloomberg administration, and ensures that our city can meet the challenges we face today and in the future, while inspiring others around the world to do the same.”

The plan has been welcomed by a number of commentators, with Eric Goldstein, New York City Environment Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, stating: “This is a broad and ambitious plan to make New York a more sustainable city and a better place to live.

“Perhaps most notably, this is the first time ever the city’s sustainability plan approaches these issues through an equity lens. That’s key because many urban environmental problems, including climate change, hit poor and working class New Yorkers the hardest. Critical to this plan’s success, of course, will be putting it into action. We look forward to working with the de Blasio administration to accomplish that objective.”

Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, commended the mayor on his plans for sustainability and equality, adding: “The plan's ambitious zero waste goals and acknowledgement of the need to reassess our commercial waste system are a significant step toward a more sustainable and equitable city for all New Yorkers.. .[we] look forward to working with the administration throughout the next steps of OneNYC.”

Read the full ‘OneNYC: The Plan for a Strong and Just City’ document of find out more about New York’s Sanitation Police and recycling infrastructure.