Understanding where our waste ends up is essential to making informed decisions about recycling and waste reduction. The map below shows the primary disposal destinations for New York City's residential waste.

Map showing disposal destinations for New York City waste, including landfills in Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ohio

Understanding NYC Waste Disposal

New York City closed its last active landfill, Fresh Kills on Staten Island, in 2001. Since then, all residential waste has been exported to facilities in other states. The city relies on a network of transfer stations where garbage is consolidated before being loaded onto long-haul trucks, barges, and rail cars for transport to final disposal sites.

This export system costs the city approximately $300 million per year. The primary receiving states include Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ohio, where large commercial landfills accept waste from multiple metropolitan areas along the East Coast.

Reducing Waste Export Through Recycling

Every ton of material recycled or composted locally is a ton that does not need to be trucked to a distant landfill. Increasing recycling rates and expanding organics collection programs are the most direct ways to reduce the volume and cost of waste export.

Organic waste alone represents approximately one-third of the city's waste stream. Composting this material locally or processing it through anaerobic digestion facilities would significantly reduce both disposal costs and the environmental impact of long-distance waste transport.

Frequently Asked Questions

New York City exports the vast majority of its residential waste to landfills and waste-to-energy facilities in other states. Primary destinations include landfills in Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ohio. The city closed its last landfill, Fresh Kills on Staten Island, in 2001.

The export process involves collecting waste at local transfer stations, loading it onto trucks or barges, and transporting it hundreds of miles to disposal sites. This system costs the city approximately $300 million per year and creates significant environmental impacts from transportation emissions alone.

New York City spends approximately $300 million per year to export residential waste to out-of-state landfills. This figure includes transportation costs, tipping fees at receiving landfills, and the operation of local transfer stations where waste is consolidated for long-haul transport.

A significant portion of this expenditure goes toward disposing of organic waste, which could be composted or processed through anaerobic digestion locally. Diverting organics and increasing recycling rates would directly reduce these disposal costs.

A waste transfer station is a facility where garbage trucks bring collected waste for temporary storage before it is loaded onto larger vehicles for transport to a final disposal site. Transfer stations consolidate waste from many smaller collection trucks into fewer, larger shipments, making long-distance transport more economical.

In New York City, transfer stations are critical infrastructure because the city has no active landfills within its borders. All residential waste must pass through transfer stations before being exported to disposal facilities in other states.

Every ton of material recycled is a ton that does not need to be exported to an out-of-state landfill. Since disposal costs include both transportation and tipping fees, each diverted ton represents direct savings. Recyclable materials also generate revenue when sold to processors and manufacturers.

Increasing the recycling rate from the current level to even a modest improvement would save the city millions of dollars annually. Organic waste diversion offers the largest single opportunity because organics make up roughly one-third of the waste stream.

Recyclables collected in Brooklyn are taken to materials recovery facilities where they are sorted by type. Metals, plastics, paper, and glass are separated using a combination of automated equipment and manual sorting. Once sorted, materials are baled and sold to domestic and international buyers.

The Sims Municipal Recycling facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is one of the primary processing centers for Brooklyn's metal, glass, and plastic recyclables. Paper and cardboard are processed at separate facilities. Clean, properly sorted recyclables command higher prices and are more likely to be successfully recycled into new products.