Disposal Company’s Report Reveals Daunting Challenges For Future LI Waste Management

editors@antonmediagroup.com

For most of us, garbage seems to “go away”. It is easy to forget about one’s trash the moment it is scooped off the driveway each month. However, the Long Islander’s ability to do so is quickly dwindling, and might soon be gone entirely.

Winter Bros. Waste System, a West Babylon company, recently released a report on the solid waste crisis facing Long Island. The report was prepared using information from several sources, including the Long Island Solid Waste Leadership Council, Long Island Regional Planning Council, US Census Bureau, and the New York Climate Action Council, among others. The goal of this report is to encourage action to address the serious environmental, public health, and economic issues which have stemmed from an abundance of solid waste on Long Island.

The report prefaces with three critical points: 1) That Long Island’s 2.9 million residents produce more than 14 million pounds of municipal solid waste each day, 2) That another 29.1 million pounds of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste are produced each day, and 3) that the Brookhaven Landfill—which buries incinerator ash, C&D waste, and automobile shredder waste—is expected to close in 2024. Despite an increase in recycling efforts, the volume of produced waste is increasing yearly.

The shutting down of landfills forces companies to ship waste further away, which both increases costs and encourages illegal dumping to save time and money. Furthermore, the report confirms that “once the Brookhaven Landfill closes, transportation and logistical challenges will arise across Long Island. The challenges will affect all residents, businesses, builders, and municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk counties, including two cities, 13 towns and 96 villages.” Challenges include an increased cost in waste management, congestion of major roads and highways by landfill trucks, and environmental changes such as increased air pollution. “Fortunately, there are solutions,” the report claims, “Unfortunately, the solutions are neither cheap, nor easy to implement.”

Defining the waste crisis:

Long Island is a defined – and small –space. This means that there is a low disposal capacity on the island itself, and off-island disposal transportation is a necessary tool for waste management. This disposal ceiling exists for both municipal solid waste (MSW), consisting of the everyday items we use and then throw away, as well as construction and demolition debris (C&D). For the most part, MSW is already transported and disposed of off of Long Island. Between residential garbage and commercial trash, the report notes, thousands of tons a day of MSW are transported.

As for C&D, while the Brookhaven Landfill is in operation as well as 110 Sand in Melville, a significant amount is still transported off Long Island by both truck and rail. Currently, according to the report, the Brookhaven Landfill manages “about 1.2 million tons per year of waste materials including C&D, waste from vehicle shredding and scrap yards, and ash from incinerators.” Furthermore, “When the Brookhaven Landfill closes in 2024, approximately 60,000 trucks will be needed to haul the 1.2 million tons of waste that was going to the landfill.” Before this happens, Winters Bros. implores that “citizens, politicians, regulators, and industry officials must acknowledge the need for additional facilities to manage society’s waste in an environmentally sound manner.”

Better logistics and additional infrastructure:

There are currently three existing waste to rail operations on the Island. Two are operated by Winters Bros., in Farmingdale and Lindenhurst. The third is operated by OmniBrentwood in Brentwood; a recent operation which opened in October in 2022. The existing networks, according to the report, are not sufficient to handle the volume of waste that will be displaced upon Brookhaven’s closing. Therefore, it is crucial to develop additional infrastructure, including enhancements to freight rail transportation systems.

There are three other rail projects currently in development: in Medford, Yaphank and Smithtown. Still, there is a need for a substantial increase in the capacity of waste transportation from Long Island. The report promotes rail transportation as “more sustainable with significantly less environmental impacts when compared to truck transportation.” In December of 2022, New York State’s Climate Action Council supported the wider utilization and expansion of transportation of freight via rail, stating that the “state should work with federal partners to improve the reliability of intercity passenger rail service and strengthen the freight rail system. These improvements will provide New Yorkers with additional low-carbon options for longer-distance travel and improve the environmental sustainability of the goods movement system.”

How to address the crisis:

The report presents 14 recommendations that Winters Bros. believes will help address the waste crisis. These recommendations occur at all stages of waste-development, and offer a communal, collective approach to solving waste abundance. One suggestion is to reduce waste at the point of generation. “Beyond recycle and reuse, zero waste focuses on responsible production, consumption, reuse and recovery of all products, packaging and materials, without burning them, and without discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or public health.”

They do note that this goal is not an easy one to achieve, though they believe this should not be discouraging. “It is clearly an ideal, and not a ‘hard’ target, but one that Long Island should aspire to reach, nonetheless.” Another recommendation is to advance environmental justice. “Environmental justice issues are real, and the fair and meaningful treatment of all people—regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, income, national origin, or education level—is paramount.” The report goes on to encourage public involvement in environmental concerns. “The public has a right to participate in public decisions and actions that have an impact on their environment, communities, and neighborhoods. Fair and equal access to a safe and healthy environment is a basic human right… There needs to be engagement with communities on ALL major projects and substantive conversations with community members and stakeholders.” Winters Bros. has their own environmental justice policy (included at the conclusion of the report), and encourages other institutions to adapt their own.

Regardless of which actions are taken, urgency is of the utmost importance. Jimmy Winters, owner of WBWS, implores Long Islanders to take heed. “Long Island is the place where we have not only chosen to grow our business, but also to raise our families. As professionals in the field, we are truly distressed about the state of waste on Long Island. As a region, we are at a crossroads with regards to the management of society’s waste. There is no time to wait. We must act now.”

Readers interested in reading the full report can do so at https:// www.wintersbros.com/2023/02/23/ winters-bros-the-state-of-waste-report/ – Information provided by Winter Bros. Waste Systems