Industry News

Collection

DSNY announces contracts for commercial waste zones

The New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has announced the next steps in its overhaul of the city’s commercial waste industry mandated under Local Law 199.

DSNY has established new no-cost contracts with carters authorized to operate in designated “commercial waste zones” within the five boroughs. Three carters were selected in each of the 20 zones to provide small businesses with service choices and competitive pricing, DSNY says, and five carters were given citywide contracts to pick up containerized waste from compactors and businesses with loading docks.

DSNY says the first zone, Queens Central, will come online this fall. Queens Central contracts were awarded to Basin Haulage Inc., MRT BWR Corp. and Waste Connections of New York Inc. 

DSNY says Queens Central was selected as the pilot district because of its variety of business types. The zone, which includes neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights, will inform the rollout timeline and methodology of subsequent zones.

Additional awardees include Action Carting Environmental Services Inc., Royal Waste Services Inc., Cogent Waste Solutions LLC, Filco Carting Corp. and Recycling Track Systems NYC LLC.

A driving force behind this overhaul was the creation of stronger legal protections for waste workers, DSNY says. As the program rolls out, rules will take effect that require carters to install safety equipment, including backup cameras, auxiliary exterior lighting and cross-over mirrors as well as an integrated system for monitoring and recording GPS data.

Each awardee and subcontractor will be required to provide annual certifications of worker safety training to DSNY, including training on collision avoidance, vehicle and equipment inspections, container management, safe collection stops and staffing plans. Under these agreements, carters must charge their customers less for the collection of recyclables and compostables than they do for the collection of refuse.

A DSNY analysis found that when fully implemented, this program will achieve a citywide legislative goal of reducing commercial carter vehicle miles traveled by 50 percent. Carters also submitted plans to use zero-emission vehicles to provide their services.

A proposed rule published by DSNY lists Sept. 3 as the implementation start date for the Queens Central zone and Jan. 2, 2025, as the final implementation date.

Facilities

Recology to open new California MRF

The Recology Sonoma Marin business unit of San Francisco-based Recology has opened its new material recovery facility (MRF) in Santa Rosa, California.

Technology deployed in the MRF includes seven optical sorters, and Recology says the facility reflects its efforts to shift the industry from traditional waste management to resource recovery “in pursuit of a world without waste.”

The new MRF will process mixed recyclables from 13 communities in Sonoma and Marin counties in California and is predicted to achieve a recovery rate of 85 percent for materials collected. Recology says that would mark an improvement from the previous facility’s 75 percent recovery rate.

“This plant gives customers peace of mind that the recyclables they put in their blue bin will be properly recycled,” says Logan Harvey, senior general manager of Recology Sonoma Marin. “Investments like these show that recycling can work, and Recology is here to make sure that it does work.”

The $35 million plant, which took 10 months to build, measures 85,000 square feet and includes 109 conveyor belts, according to Recology, with the combined length of the conveyors measuring 1.58 miles.

“Recology’s new state-of-the-art facility is a game changer in maximizing the diversion of recyclable materials from the landfill and shows their commitment to recovering resources for our community,” says Leslie Lukacs, executive director of regional government agency Zero Waste Sonoma.

The new MRF has the projected capacity to process nearly three times the amount of material as the previous facility—up to 400 tons per day compared with 150 tons previously.

Recology engaged recycling equipment manufacturer Machinex to help design, fabricate and install the system.

Inside the facility, recyclables are separated by hand sorters and by automated equipment. Seven optical sorters use infrared light and air nozzles to sort materials and remove contaminants. A spinning magnet picks up steel cans and sends them to a conveyor belt leading to a high-density baler An eddy-current separator repels aluminum cans in another direction. Recycling workers at the “last-chance line” grab any plastic bottles that make it past optical sorting machines at the facility.

Recology is a 100 percent-employee-owned resource recovery company providing collection, recycling, curbside composting and outreach and education to customers in California, Oregon and Washington.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Cards acquires 2 Missouri-based companies

Cards Holdings LLC, Fayetteville, Arkansas, has acquired two Missouri-based companies. C&R Disposal Inc., an Asbury, Missouri-based solid waste collection company offering commercial, residential and roll-off services, and Pedersen Trash Service LLC (PTS), a Hartville, Missouri-based solid waste collection company offering commercial and residential services, were Cards’ 12th and 13th transactions of 2023.

“These two acquisitions fill a void between our Nixa and Winona, Missouri, operations,” Cards CEO Dan Christensen says. “Anytime we see an opportunity to partner with well-run operations that synergize into our organization, we want to take advantage of that. We look forward to keeping the communities we operate clean, providing sustainable waste management practices and building on the legacies our sellers have created.”

C&R will be consolidated into Cards’ existing Frontenac, Kansas, operations, with the acquisition adding more than 20 employees, 10 routes and 7,500 customers.

“Throughout the transaction, it was clear Cards places an emphasis on superior integration when it comes to customers and employees,” Richard Weaver, owner and operator, says of the acquisition. “I am proud to help Cards transition over the upcoming months and look forward to the team’s continued success in providing exceptional service and a wonderful place to work. I trust them to continue the C&R legacy and am confident they will improve service offerings.”

PTS previously served the Hartville, Missouri, area for more than 20 years. This transaction adds approximately 15 employees, six routes and more than 6,000 customers to Cards’ growing portfolio. Cards also plans to introduce permanent and temporary roll-off services to these communities.

“I am really excited to see Cards take this company to the next level and am honored to be a part of the journey,” PTS Owner Marty Pedersen says. “I have been approached several times, but this opportunity felt right for my employees, customers and family. Cards has so much to offer with new equipment, automation, technology, container inventory, [etc.]. I see a very bright future for the Springfield metro markets.”

Cards is a provider of solid waste collection services in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. The company provides municipal, residential subscription, commercial, portable restroom and industrial waste collection services and post- collection services to approximately 200,000 customers.

The company recently finalized the planning and development of its single-stream material recovery facility in Springdale, Arkansas, which is set to begin accepting and processing materials later this year.

Material Transport

Waste-by-rail shifts tonnages for Pennsylvania landfill

Out-of-state waste at the Bethlehem Landfill in eastern Pennsylvania is down 10 percent from the previous quarter, according to a report from LehighValleyNews.com.

At a Jan. 18 landfill committee meeting, officials said monthly reports show 15,800 to 16,500 tons were received during each of the last three months of 2023. This is compared with reports of 22,100 to 24,700 tons that were brought in during July, August and September of last year.

These decreases largely can be attributed to Bethlehem Landfill owner Waste Connections’ 2023 acquisition of Arrowhead Environmental Partners last year. As reported by Waste Today, the $100 million revenue deal expanded The Woodlands, Texas-based firm’s waste-by-rail disposal assets.

According to Toronto-based private equity group Clairvest Group Inc., Arrowhead Environmental Partners owns and leases “unique, well-placed disposal infrastructure assets to provide cost- effective waste-by-rail disposal solutions to solid waste management companies in markets with tightening disposal capacity.”

“We purchased Arrowhead, which has a rail yard in Jersey, but they rail it to Alabama,” Bethlehem Landfill District Manager Astor Lawson tells Lehigh ValleyNews.com. “Basically, the New York City waste from my company is going to start going to Alabama.”

Lawson anticipates tonnages will continue to drop this year, as Waste Connections plans to buy more rail cars to transport waste out of the state.

According to Arrowhead Environmental Partners, its Perry County, Alabama, landfill serves customers from 33 states, taking in a maximum of 15,000 tons per day, with 95 percent coming via rail.

Tonnages received include municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, as well as other industrial and special waste streams.

Funding

Cleveland awarded $340K for composting and food waste reduction project

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced an $11.5 million investment in cooperative agreements to support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills.

A grant totaling $340,961 was awarded to Cleveland to help the city expand drop-off residential composting locations, increase waste diversion and access to composting services and provide subsidized monthly subscriptions to composting services to SNAP- (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-)eligible households.

Local partners in this effort include Rust Belt Riders, Rid-All Green Partnership and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District.  

Rust Belt Riders, an employee-owned, Cleveland-based commercial and residential composting business, has been partnering with Rid-All, an urban farm in the Kinsman neighborhood, over the past year to compost food waste from West Side Market. Rust Belt Riders also partners with the Hunger Network to distribute produce that is still edible to pantries and those in need.  

“This award will go a long way in helping us grow a sustainable program that not only turns food waste into healthy soil but also supports local, employee-owned small businesses,” says Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “The more we can divert out of the waste stream, the better for our people and our environment.”  

The Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture. The program is jointly administered by USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The recommended projects will be implemented between now and 2026.  

“Programs like this are a great way to turn waste into a valuable resource,” says Cleveland City Councilman Kevin Bishop, a co-sponsor of the 2022 legislation establishing the composting pilot program.

In its selection process, the USDA prioritized projects that anticipate or demonstrate economic benefit; incorporate plans to make compost easily accessible to farmers, including community gardeners; integrate other food waste strategies, including food recovery efforts; and collaborate with multiple partners.