New York reports reduced rat sightings, credits citywide containerization

The New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has announced reported rat sightings are down thanks to New York’s citywide containerization effort, dubbed the “Trash Revolution.”

The department reports sightings have declined in 11 of the 12 months year over year since the effort to manage 44 million pounds of waste per day began. The total decrease across the covered period was 6.4 percent and 14.3 percent in the city’s rat mitigation zones.

In October 2022, New York kicked off its containerization effort by changing set-out times for residential and commercial waste from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., while also allowing earlier set-out if the material was in a container. This incentivization of containerization was paired with changes to DSNY operations, which had the department pick up more than a quarter of all waste at 12 a.m. rather than 6 a.m., particularly in high-density parts of the city.

Last August, containerization requirements went into effect for all food-related businesses in the city. DSNY says these businesses, including restaurants, delis, bodegas, bars, grocery stores and caterers, produce an outsized amount of organic waste, which attracts rats. That same month, installation of the initial 10-block, 14-school Manhattan Community Board 9 pilot containers began.

In September 2023, commercial containerization requirements extended to chain businesses of any type with five or more locations in New York.

Starting March 1, container requirements went into effect for all businesses to put waste into a secure bin.

According to DSNY, approximately 70 percent of all waste in the city will be containerized when container requirements go into effect for low-density residential buildings later this fall.

In the spring of 2025, installation of stationary on-street containers will begin in Manhattan Community Board 9 for the first full-district containerization pilot, serviced by new automated side-loading trucks.