Commercial Waste Zones Plan

While DSNY collects trash, recycling, and composting from residential buildings, more than 90 different private carters crisscross the city each night to service the city's 100,000 commercial businesses, driving long, overlapping and unsafe routes.

The Commercial Waste Zone (CWZ) program seeks to divide the city into 20 zones, each served by up to three carters selected through a competitive process. Five citywide contracts will also be awarded for the collection of containerized waste and compactors. This will reduce truck traffic associated with commercial waste collection by 50%, eliminating millions of heavy-duty truck miles from NYC streets every year, while strengthening service standards and allowing for customer choice. 

CWZ Implementation Plan

DSNY released a CWZ Implementation Plan in November 2018, laying out a blueprint for the implementation of commercial waste collection zones across New York City.

• Read Commercial Waste Zones: A Plan to Reform, Reroute, and Revitalize Private Carting in New York City.
• Read the Commercial Waste Zones Plan Appendix.

The Commercial Waste Zones plan built on the 2016 Private Carting Study and provided the City’s recommended framework to move forward with the reforms.

Local Law 199 of 2019

On November 20, 2019, LL199 of 2019 requiring the establishment of Commercial Waste Zones throughout New York City was signed into law. The result of years of planning, analysis, and stakeholder engagement by DSNY, the CWZ program aims to create a safe and efficient commercial waste collection system while providing high-quality, low-cost service to NYC businesses.