DSNY Waste Characterization: Comparison Table

The Department conducted the 2017 NYC Residential, School, and NYCHA (NYC Housing Authority) Waste Characterization Study over three seasons: spring, summer, and fall. This study builds on decades of research and analysis into the evolving composition of NYC's waste stream. DSNY conducted previous waste characterization studies in 1990, 2005, and 2013. Each of these studies share a similar methodology of waste sampling and sorting but also included different targeted analyses to characterize particular components of the waste stream.

The 2005 study examined residential curbside collection of commingled paper and cardboard recycling (Paper); MGP (metal/glass/plastic); and trash (Refuse) that provided statistical results by housing density and income levels throughout NYC. The 2005 study also included a characterization of the contents of street litter baskets.

The 2013 study surveyed residential curbside Paper, MGP, and Refuse collections providing statistical results by borough for the City as a whole, but not by housing density and income levels. The 2013 study also included a detailed characterization of discarded plastics, as well as food and beverage containers.

The 2017 study followed the same methodology for residential curbside collections as the 2013 study but included residential curbside collection of organics waste (Organics), NYC's new service to recycle food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste. The 2017 study also characterized collection for both NYC public schools and NYC Housing Authority buildings to create a baseline view of waste generation from these sources. The 2017 study included a detailed analysis of plastics using the same method as the 2013 study. It also included a more detailed analysis of certain paper products.

For more information about how DSNY conducted this study and previous waste characterization studies, see: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/resources/reports/waste-characterization

For information on NYC's recycling programs, see: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/services/recycling

Querying over HTTP

Splitgraph serves as an HTTP API that lets you run SQL queries directly on this data to power Web applications. For example:

curl https://data.splitgraph.com/sql/query/ddn \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d@-<<EOF
{"sql": "
    SELECT *
    FROM \"cityofnewyork-us/dsny-waste-characterization-comparison-table-sx92-yn4a\".\"dsny_waste_characterization_comparison_table\"
    LIMIT 100 
"}
EOF

See the Splitgraph documentation for more information.