Waste:

A NYC Case Study

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NYC’s process for the processing of its solid waste goes like this:
Solid Waste in
NYC
Quick Facts:
● Most of NYC’s waste
is not treated in NY
rather in other states.
● NYC produces 3.2
million tonnes of
trash per year
● First it sends its fleet of trucks out into the city to pick up the
trash at 5 a.m.
● The trucks then head to the dump station when they are full
where the waste is containerized.
● The containers of waste are then handed over to Covanta, a
waste management company, who load them 48 containers
to a barge
● The barges are then transported down the East River and to
the Global Transfer Station, decreasing carbon emissions by
34500 metric tons and reducing traffic by trucks by 96.6
million kilometers annually
● The containers are transferred onto a train that takes them
to one of Covanta’s ‘waste-to-energy’ facilities
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● All the trash that Covanta is contracted to deal with ends up

Solid Waste in in a ‘waste-to-energy’ facility where it is burned to produce

electricity
NYC ● The toxic fumes that burning trash causes are sent through
a scrubber reactor that neutralizes any acid gases with a
Quick Facts: lime slurry and absorbs pollutants with activated carbon.
● The fumes then go through a baghouse, which is just a
● The annual cost of bunch of filters.
managing NYC’s ● The end result that comes out of the smokestack does
waste is 429 million produce some CO2 and Methane but the net CO2 emissions
USD are negative as the trash doesn’t end up in a landfill where it
would produce much more.
● NYC Department of
● NYC hopes to fund more ‘waste-to-energy’ facilities and
Sanitation has a fleet become ‘zero-waste-to-landfill’ by 2030.
of 2000 garbage ● However only 30% of NYC’s trash is currency used to
trucks produce energy while the rest ends up in landfills.
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NYC Solid Waste

Breakdown
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Solid Waste in
●
● NYC’s current state of waste management is a large step in
NYC the right direction however as in the late 1800’s, NYC was
notorious for its dirty streets.
● This filthiness led to mass sickness so the city decided to do
Quick Facts:
something about it. They established the Department of
● One ‘waste-to-energy’ Sanitation.
facility powers 46000 ● However the city quickly ran out of place to put its trash and
in the early 1900’s it was actually dumping its trash into the
homes
ocean although it was illegal
● 80% of NYC’s trash in ● They did this until 1934 when the supreme court forced NYC
the early 1900’s to stop ocean-dumping.
ended up in the
ocean
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Solid Waste in
NYC ● Many of the incinerators that had been used for decades
were shut down in the 70’s because they didn’t meet the EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency) clean air standards
Quick Facts: ● The NYC then opened up landfills across the city but even
● ‘Waste-to-energy’ that wasn’t enough.
● That’s when the city began to export its waste to other
facilities process
states.
over 100 metric tons ● NYC says that the best solution however would be for New
of trash annually Yorkers to waste less in general and that that would lead to
● The trash is burned a cleaner future for everyone.
at nearly 1100
degrees celsius
ZT Augsburg’s Waste Disposal Evolution:
In the 1950s Augsburg used a large area on the right hand

Augsburg
side of the Lech near the Autobahn as a dump for domestic
waste.

Comparison
Facts & Comparisons:
● Early 1900s NYC disposed
of a majority of its waste
by tossing it into the
ocean vs. Augsburg
disposed of a majority of
its waste by tossing it into
a dump (hole in the
ground).
● NY waste treated largely
in other states vs.
Augsburg waste treated
nearly entirely in Landkreis
Augsburg.
➔ During WW2 the 420,000m2 large area was dug up for
the construction of the A8 (Autobahn 8) and then filled
with rubble and waste in the 50s.
➔ For decades the site was used by the people of
Augsburg to dump their domestic waste in a regulated
fashion - a “Hausmülldeponie”.
➔ 1994 the AVA (Abfallverwertungsanlage Augsburg)
opened up and was used for domestic, residual, and
other waste from then on.
➔ Nowadays the dump is used for waste that cannot be
burned, nor recycled (eg. soil & mineral waste, certain
building materials, etc.) and instead serves the purpose
of using the gases released by the trash to generate
electricity, a large part of which feeds into the grid (used
by Augsburg -> forms a cycle).

.
ZT
Augsburg Waste Disposal Nowadays:
Augsburg ❖ Yearly the average Augsburger generates 450 kg of
waste (170 kg residual waste). The Bavarian average is
Comparison 500 kg per person (190 kg residual waste).
❖ Augsburg uses the AVA to recycle most of its waste.
Facts & Comparisons: These facilities have been around since the 1990s and
● New Yorkers produce circa currently process around 360,000 tonnes of waste per
3 pounds of waste per day, year (2021).
which is around 497 kg per ➢ The AVA powers more than 17,000 homes (NYC =
year
46,000 homes) with the electricity generated.
○ The American
average = 728 kg / ➢ After burning, the metal that is left is funneled
person yearly back into the industry, recycling the material to be
○ Neighboring state used again. Around 7,000 tonnes of metal (called
Pennsylvania = 671 “Schlack”) is sorted out yearly.
kg / person yearly ➢ Waste is burned under temperatures of over 850°C
(NYC = 1100°C).

.
 “NYC – Commercial Organics Recycling Mandate.” Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 23 Aug. 2021,
https://ilsr.org/rule/food-scrap-ban/nyc-organics-recovery/.

Hinsdale, Jeremy |February. “Map: Where Are the Trashiest New Yorkers?” State of the Planet, 10 Jan. 2020,
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2014/02/06/map-where-are-the-trashiest-new-yorkers/.

Works Cited Deibl, Martin. “Jeder Einwohner Produziert Im Jahr 169 Kilo Müll.” Augsburger Allgemeine,
AUGSBURGER-ALLGEMEINE, 28 Oct. 2019,
https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/augsburg-land/Abfallbilanz-Jeder-Einwohner-produziert-im-Jahr-169-
Kilo-Muell-id5945226.html.

“Historie Der AVA.” AVA Augsburg, 11 July 2022, https://www.ava-augsburg.de/about-us/historie-der-ava/.

businessinsider, I. B. (2021, March 21). What happens to NYC's 3.2 million tons of Trash | Big Business |
Business Insider. YouTube. Retrieved January 8, 2023, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S758wEniU0c

Stadt Augsburg, https://www.augsburg.de/umwelt-soziales/umwelt/deponie-augsburg-nord/geschichte.

“Richtig Mülltrennen Für Die Zukunft: Die Abfallverwertung Augsburg.” 120,

https://www.sw-augsburg.de/magazin/detail/richtig-muelltrennen-fuer-die-zukunft-die-abfallverwertung-augsb
urg/.

Barnard, Anne. “7 Reasons Recycling Isn't Working in New York City.” The New York Times, The New York
Times, 29 Jan. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/nyregion/nyc-recycling.html.

Herbst, Lisa. “So Viel Müll Produzieren Die Bayern Pro Jahr - Landkreis in Franken Ist Spitzenreiter.”
InFranken.de, InFranken.de, 17 Aug. 2022,
https://www.infranken.de/bayern/so-viel-muell-produzieren-die-bayern-pro-jahr-landkreis-in-franken-ist-spitz
enreiter-art-5187693.
Thank you for listening!