New York City is responsible for the production of residential, commercial as well as institutional waste, which consists of different types of waste altogether. As a result, it is important to understand the various dynamics associated with a local waste stream such as the one in New York. This is because it enables the establishment of means through which the issue can be addressed, such as garbage collection and disposal. Numerous dynamics describe the New York waste stream, thus the need to establish those very dynamics. Similarly, by establishing the dynamics surrounding the waste stream issue in question, it is possible to establish the implications of the issue on the society. Residential waste consists of dynamics that are characterized by the production, use, as well as, disposal within the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). The aim of this paper is, therefore, to discuss how residential waste is produced, used, as well as disposed of, within the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY).
Production of Residential Waste in New York City
Residential waste consists of solid waste that comprises different types of trash or rubbish such as food scraps, newspapers, disposables, cans, yard trimmings as well as plastic and glass bottles. Over 8 million residents are living in New York, which results in the city producing twice as much solid waste as any other city in the world. Out of the 14 million tons of waste produced in NYC, New York residents, produce part of it, which is collected and managed by (Cohen, Martinez & Schroder, 2015) . Residents in the city pay the private waste collection and management Programme for their garbage collection. Residential waste in New York is produced through product use, food disposal, residues of used items such as cans and clothing, resulting in both organic waste and recyclable waste. Therefore, production of domestic or residential waste is attributed to household activities of the over 8 million residents living in New York.
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Use of Residential Waste in New York City
Depending on the nature or type of waste, residential waste in New York City is used for different purposes, as well as to achieve different results. With a population of over 8 million people, garbage production in the city is large quantities, thus the need to establish ways of using the same. The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) collaborates with other waste management organizations, such as the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), the Sims Multi Recycling Recovery Facility (Sims), and Green NYC to use the subject local waste stream (Cohen, Martinez & Schroder, 2015). Among how residential waste is used is through activities such as recycling, waste reduction, as well as organic waste diversion and composting. The organic material undergoes composting and is later used by New York residents as organic manure for the farms in the state. Other waste items comprising the residential waste in New York such as bottles and cans are recycled, thus keeping the state free from pollution from the waste materials.
The manner in which the use of residential waste in New York influences the society can be described as having positive implications. For instance, New York residents are employed to collect and later manage the waste, thus the use of residential waste having created employment. Out of the over city’s $75 billion annual budget, $2.3 billion is used for the collection and management of both commercial and residential waste (Cohen, Martinez & Schroder, 2015). This explains the argument that using residential waste has resulted in the creation of employment, thus its benefit to the society. Similarly, by using residential waste in the form of recycling, controlling the issue of the environmental population occurs, thus a clean environment where members of the New York community can thrive. In waste-to-energy facilities, residential waste is converted into energy that is then distributed for use among New York City residents (Kinnaman, 2017).
Disposal of Residential Waste in New York City
In the past, the major form of garbage disposal, including residential waste, in New York was using landfills (Harrison & Hester, 1995) . Landfill garbage disposal consisted of burying waste materials in a bid to get rid of the same since items such as organic waste will decompose and even release nutrients to the soil in which it is buried (Reno, 2016) . However, with the passing of time, new methods of waste disposal have been adopted within New York. Among the methods of residential waste disposal is the recycling of certain residential waste items such as bottles and cans. Recycling is a way of disposing of residential waste as it entails finding a new use for items that would have otherwise been dumped on the ground or in water bodies, thus causing pollution. Disposal does not necessarily mean to get rid of something, but it can also mean to find a new use for something, thus making recycling a method of disposal. Lastly, there is also the disposal of residential waste in the city through waste-to-energy facilities, where the waste material is converted into energy, thus disposed of (Cohen, Martinez & Schroder, 2015) . This method of waste disposal is among the best because it has the benefit of a final product that can be used for multiple functions such as powering New York City.
Alternatives
Production
With the growing waste issue in New York City, certain alternative production methods prevail. For instance, while almost all the prevailing waste-to-energy facilities within the U.S. produce electricity through burning of waste, emerging technologies are offering substitute ways of production. Thermal processes, including plasma and gasification entail heating waste with the goal of releasing gases, which are then utilized in generation of electricity. In separating solids from gases before combustion, considerable amount of ash together with other particles are eliminated from exhaust. Anaerobic digestion utilizes municipal waste to serve as microbes’ food source, which thrive in environments lacking oxygen, facilitating in the conversion of organic waste to methane gas in line with other forms of waste, which are burnt to create electricity (Rizzo & Plumb, 2012) . Hydrolysis entails immersing waste to acid to generate sugars, which are fermented to create ethanol, which can be utilized as fuel for producing energy. For these technologies, they have the ability of reducing the probability of severe environmental influences further. They follow the solid waste management policy of the state, which institutes a hierarchy for managing solid waste, including minimizing waste, recycling/reusing/composting, recovering energy from waste that is not possible to recycle, and burn or landfill (Cohen, 2017) .
Use
On alternative use of waste, the initial priority needs to refrain from creating waste through minimizing packaging and consumption. The ideal option entails recycling and composting organic waste. Combusting the recycled waste for energy follows while landfilling concludes. In the U.S., the number of landfills has declined during the years, although the average size of the prevailing landfills has grown. Landfills have the capacity of emitting methane, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds, as well as other dangerous pollutants to the air. In the U.S., these serve as the third biggest emitters of methane, whose potential for global warming is 25 times higher than carbon dioxide for over a period of 100 years (Cho, 2016) . Landfill gases also have the capacity of moving underground, while they can result to explosions or fires while the liquid that in landfills ends up contaminating groundwater. When it comes to such issues, investing in waste-to-energy plants would offer various benefits. The technology is capable of minimizing toxic emissions, leave minimal residue, and create syngas, a gas combination that can be utilized to serve as electricity fuel or developed into other energy products. Embarking on approaches, such as plasma gasification, gasification, and pyrolysis, these conversion technologies, which do not entail burning in oxygen can ensure effective alternate utilization of solid waste. They have the ability of heating solid waste at significantly high temperatures in environments characterized by law oxygen. These lead to significant reduction in generation of toxic emissions while at the same time facilitating in instant slag and metal recovery (Cohen, 2017) . In this case, minimal residue reaches landfills while they end up being less toxic.
Disposal Methods
When it comes to alternative methods of disposing waste, New York City can learn from other areas. For instance, when looking at Berkeley, California, it is capable of recycling around 75 percent of its waste. In such a case, New York would manage to institute a bill responsible for enforcing recycling of waste and efficient disposal mechanisms while at the same time reducing waste. The state needs to adopt a technology that is capable of turning sewage sludge as well as household garbage to rich compost (DEC, 2018) . In this perspective, with reduction at source being mandatory and at highest, the state would not need to invest significantly on heavy costs of eradicating incinerators that produce waste. In doing so, the state would be able to devise effective means of managing waste at source.
Environmental Laws and Regulations
Laws
Whether at work, school, or work, New Yorkers usually generate considerable amount of waste. In New York, each person is estimated to produce around 4.5 pounds of waste daily. The state needs to devise measures that can allow individuals avoid the habit of throwing waste to receptacle cans, paper, bottle, garbage, and banana peels, all when combined constitute significant amount of waste. Most of the items that people throw away are possible to reuse, compost, or recycle, such as glass, paper, metals, aluminum, together with carrot and potato peels. New York has around 30 landfills that accept about 6 million tons annual waste from all over the state. The state also sends around 2.5 million of waste to WTE (Waste-to-Energy) facilities (Murray-Miller, 2017) . Whereas reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting are probable initiatives, they have not been quite effective, hence a requirement for following the law.
In New York, the 1998 Solid Waste Management Act serves as a law that prioritizes the activities taking place in New York. Firstly, it advocates for reducing the amount of waste created. Secondly, it requires the reuse of material for the purpose it was initially intended, or recycles it in the event that it is not possible to reuse the material. Thirdly, recovering entails efforts aimed at recovering energy from solid waste in an environmentally friendly manner, especially when it comes to waste that cannot be technically or economically recycled or reused. Lastly, solid waste should be disposed in the event that it is not possible to recycle or reuse it, particularly if it is not possible to recover energy from it. The disposal process should revolve around the mechanisms that the department permits.
Analysis
When looking at the laws requiring the reuse, recycling, composting, or landfilling, they would play a critical role in fostering the realization of various benefits. For instance, it would be possible to realize things, such as energy savings, pollution reduction, establishment of environmental ethic among citizens, minimize the amount of waste directed to WTE and landfill facilities, raise carbon sequestration, and facilitate in the conservation of natural resources. When it comes to such initiative, it would be possible to foster product stewardship, which entails enforcing efforts aimed at reducing trash and costs associated with it further. It would also be possible to extend producer responsibility to ensure that manufacturers cover the overall lifecycle of the package or product, including the overall package or product disposition once it stops being useful. The local government would realize increased savings, such as in the form of no-cost expanded services as well as direct cost savings.
Future
Reflection
When it comes to the solid waste issue, I believe that New York is among the densely populated cities globally. Its population is broad to an extent that the amount of waste generated is intense. With the rising population, I believe that the city would continue experiencing challenges attributed to management of solid waste in the event that it fails to deploy appropriate guidelines and technologies to allow it devise effective ways of dealing with waste. In this perspective, therefore, I believe that the city should focus its efforts on understanding the future of waste together with building technology to facilitate in devising efficient means of managing waste.
Prediction
In the coming years, it is expected that the population of New York will continue rising, an issue that might pose challenges on matters related to waste management. In this case, focusing on guidelines targeting zero waste designs would plan a vital role in changing urban recycling’s future. These guidelines would apply to New York in line with other densely populated cities to assist them in maximizing their efforts for diverting waste (Rosengren, 2017) . In the case of New York, it should commence by assessing its demolition and construction management carefully, such as the manner in which buildings are constructed in line with areas whereby excess debris goes. In this manner, it would be possible to go all the way down to the manner in which waste would move within the structure after it commences use. While cities including New York commence encouraging and requiring diversion of additional consumer organics, recyclables, electronics, and textiles, these goals face immense challenges (Getting to Zero, 2018) .
In a large number of buildings, particularly the older ones, it is quite common to witness staff stuffing bags manually into elevators and later lug them through hallways that resemble mazes to tight back alleys, loading docks, or sidewalks. This poses challenges when it comes to collection crews because they are forced to squeeze their trucks to ensure that the bags fit, mostly because property does not have space for containers. This posed complications when diverse kinds of waste, especially organics require storing separately before time. For many city planners, real estate experts, and officials, they have been looking at the issue for many years. However, regarding the discussions surrounding smart cities and green buildings, a big number of architects do not seem to be thinking about ways of diverting waste. Present day architects emphasize on minimizing ongoing and embodied energy as well as water utilization in their designs. Similarly, they should emphasize on designing buildings that can minimize ongoing waste, which originates and managed within the buildings. Design has the ability of changing human behavior and integrates social and political incentives for recycling more and wasting less (Garcia, 2017) . These kinds of features would assist cities in deploying technologies for managing waste effectively while at the same time making sure solid waste is put into appropriate use.
Conclusion
New York City residents produce tons of residential waste from household activities such as cooking, which results in foods scraps as well as residual parts of food items that are disposable. However, the city’s waste collection management bodies such as New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) have formulated ways of using the waste such as its conversion into energy, thus positively affecting the society. Similarly, the city has disposal methods like recycling that ensure the management of residential waste, thus preservation of quality of life and the environment.
References
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