Opinion: New York City Needs an Office of Circularity

"New York City's Department of Sanitation collects 24 million pounds of waste every day, a figure that does not include the 20 million pounds of waste generated daily by businesses, or the estimated 33 million pounds from the construction and demolition industry. Despite this dizzying scale, the city's waste system remains largely linear: items are used briefly, then buried or burned at enormous financial, environmental, and human cost."

"New York City spends nearly $500 million annually in hidden costs burying or burning trash, poisoning our air, water, and soil, and sickening our neighbors who live near landfills and incinerators in Newark, New Jersey, and as far away as Lee County, South Carolina."

"Beyond doing less harm, an Office of Circularity could actively do good by recirculating usable items to New Yorkers in need, creating local green jobs and building community, all while offering a model the rest of the world could follow."

New York City generates approximately 77 million pounds of waste daily across residential, commercial, and construction sectors, yet maintains a linear waste system that costs $500 million annually in disposal, environmental damage, and health impacts on nearby communities. The city's public school system alone discards three million single-use items daily. Creating a municipal Office of Circularity would establish centralized infrastructure for reuse, repair, and recirculation across residential, school, government, and commercial waste streams. This approach would reduce environmental and financial costs while generating local green jobs, supporting New Yorkers in need through item recirculation, and establishing a replicable model for global implementation.

Read at City Limits