New York City mayor Eric Adams excitedly introduced a garbage can as a “garbage revolution” to fight rats

The mayor of New York city claimed the use of garbage cans as a game changer for the city as they will eliminate billions of kilograms of waste from the streets.

Diana Butron

The use of the garbage cans instead of the big black plastic garbage bags will officially begin November 12, 2024. The aim is to have 70% of New York's city containerized by November 12.  This will be mandatory for all properties with up to nine residential units.  The garbage container needs to be purchased by the property owners or the building managers at the price of 50 USD each. This NYC bin is the cheapest of its quality with wheels and a secure latching lid. The price was achieved through an "innovative contracting mechanism in which one vendor is held to a low price in exchange for exclusivity"  If a citizen already owns a container of 55 gallons or less with a secure lid, they may still use it until June 2026. Thereafter they will need to purchase the official container.  Starting next year there will be fines imposed on the properties without a garbage can.

The implementation of the rule will include a warning period up to the end of 2024. After the 2nd of January 2025 fines will be issued. The first fine for the offense of leaving trash in the sidewalk instead of a 55 gallon bin is of 50USD, for the second offense the fine is of 100 USD, and the third and further offenses 200 USD.

Mayor Adams said  "The first-ever, official NYC Bin is high-quality, affordable, and will build on our efforts containerizing more than 70 percent of the city’s trash to protect our most valuable and limited resource — our public space.”

Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said ""NYC-branded wheeled containers, custom designed to work with our trucks, are the key to keeping our most precious real estate — New York City sidewalks — clear,”

The official NY website claimed that the "Trash Revolution" has led to record-breaking reduction in rat sightings. Some of the steps included in the revolution include: earlier set-out times for trash, a report to study containerization models, containerization of food relation businesses and chain businesses, a new automated side-loading garbage truck.

Mockery and sarcastic reactions were registered regarding this announcement.  Furthermore, New York citizens are sceptical regarding the effectiveness of the garbage cans towards combating rats in the city.

 

References

Ganslmeier, M. (2024, July 18) "New York entdeckt die Mülltonne" Tagesschau,  https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/newyork-muelltonne-abfall-100.html