Brooklyn residents are reacting with mixed feelings to the city’s new waste containerization regulations, which begin today. Some residents applaud the move to streamline and modernize garbage collection, while others criticize the mandate requiring residents to shoulder the cost.
As of Tuesday, Nov. 12, low-density residential buildings—those with one to nine units—must place all trash in bins with secure, latching lids, bringing 70% of the city’s trash under containerization.
Flatbush homeowner Mave Goren expressed frustration that landlords will be responsible for purchasing the new bins, which cost around $53 for a 45-gallon bin and $36 for a 35-gallon bin, excluding taxes and processing fees.
“While it might make things more efficient, there are many households that can’t afford it,” said Goren, 27.
Mayor Eric Adams has described the initiative as a “trash revolution.” Speaking in July, he stated his goal was “to do whatever it takes to cut these rodents and the mounds and mounds of plastic bags off our streets.”
Residents may continue using bins they already own if they are 55 gallons or less and have a secure lid. However, by June 2026, all households will be required to use the city-approved bin. The uniform bins will also allow sanitation trucks to be retrofitted for automatic side-loading, a significant change in collection.
“The retrofits will give sanitation workers the option to use a mechanical tipper, making collection safer,” said Department of Sanitation Press Secretary Vincent Gragnani on Oct. 30. “Fully 50% of our line-of-duty injuries—injuries our sanitation workers sustain on the job—are strains and sprains from lifting.”
Gragnani also noted efforts to reduce costs, explaining that the official NYC Bin is priced below similar bins in retail stores, which can sell for roughly three times as much.
“These savings were achieved through an innovative contracting mechanism in which one vendor is held to a low price in exchange for exclusivity,” Gragnani added.
However, some residents still question the necessity of the bins. Patrick McBain, a 34-year-old video editor from Clinton Hill, understands the benefit to sanitation workers but questions the need for a city-mandated expense.
“I can understand the need for a mechanical arm on the truck; it makes jobs easier for sanitation workers,” McBain said. “I don't know if it's entirely necessary, especially if it's being implemented at a cost to residents.”
Others are more supportive. Halina Guterbock, a 23-year-old renter in Bushwick, sees the new rules as a positive change.
“I support any effort to clean up our streets, as trash and sanitation is one of my biggest qualms with New York as a city,” she said. “It seems only logical we would have better systems for waste management and cleaning efforts, something that should be entirely feasible when you compare it to other U.S. cities.”
Enforcement of the new container rules will begin on Jan. 2, 2025, with fines of $50, $100, and $200 for the first, second, and subsequent offenses, respectively. To help residents transition, the Department of Sanitation will be holding online information sessions through the end of the year.
For more information, residents can go here.
