N.Y.’s Zero Waste Challenge Helped Divert More Than 36,000 Tons of Waste from Landfill
By Waste 360.
New York’s Zero Waste Challenge, which was created and led by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as part of the city’s OneNYC plan to send zero waste to landfill by 2030, started in February 2016 and ended in June 2016. Thirty-one businesses, including Whole Foods, Barclays Center and ABC/Disney, participated in the challenge and worked together to divert 36,910 tons of waste from landfill and incineration by composting more than 24,500 tons of organic material and donating 322 tons of food to the city’s needy.
“In OneNYC, we made a commitment to sending zero waste to landfill by 2030,” said de Blasio in a press release. “Our Zero Waste Challenge and the participants have proven that a collected effort helps reduce unnecessary waste. Together, businesses from a variety of sectors diverted 36,910 tons of waste that would have otherwise been sent to a landfill. This challenge proves that our commitment can be achieved so long as every New Yorker does their part to create a more sustainable city. My thanks to the businesses that stepped up to the challenge.”