Commercial waste

DSNY delays commercial waste zone implementation once again

New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner Kathryn Garcia issued a letter to stakeholders May 1 announcing that the implementation of the city’s commercial waste zone (CWZ) program is being delayed once again due to ramifications of COVID-19.

The city’s CWZ bill was passed into law in October 2019. However, with more than 100 DSNY workers contracting the virus and commercial businesses across the city shuttered, the department announced in late March that implementation of the program would be delayed at least a month.

As these issues have persisted, Garcia made the announcement that implementation would once again be delayed—this time for significantly longer.

“While there is hope that the city and state may begin to lift some restrictions in the coming weeks and months, the economic toll of this crisis will continue for quite some time. I previously stated that the planned CWZ timeline would be delayed by at least one month. It is now clear that this delay will extend much further. At present, the earliest date for the release of the CWZ RFP would be in fall 2020, preceded by applicable rule-makings,” Garcia wrote in her letter to stakeholders.

Despite the delays, Garcia commented that DSNY is committed to taking the proper precautions to successfully implement the program.

“We need to allow for the business community and the carting industry to begin to recover and stabilize before embarking on this transformative effort that will require bold, forward-looking commitments from our partners in the private sector. We remain committed to implementing this program and fully realizing its benefits for all New Yorkers, but we must take the right precautions to do so successfully,” she wrote.