Some NYC carters say sanitation overhaul threatens their livelihood

While the New York City Department of Sanitation handles household trash, the city's commercial waste has long been the purview of private companies like Liverpool Carting, which Louis Gino Fava's father founded in 1945.   

The arrival of a new policy for New York City's commercial waste means only three carters will be permitted to operate in each of a series of citywide zones. 

The Department of Sanitation awarded contracts to the winners, and Liverpool Carting was not one of them, putting an end to operations once the rollout reaches them.

"This thing is totally unfair"

Fava says the future of his commercial waste carting business is in peril.

"I had to think twice about buying brand-new trucks with the gloom and doom hanging over my head here," he said.

The family says Liverpool takes pride in offering white-glove service to businesses including high-end retail along Madison Avenue.

"I did all the paperwork, application, everything, and here I am. I'm denied a zone," he said. "This thing is totally unfair."

The Department of Sanitation told CBS New York in a statement in part:

The Commercial Waste Zone program created under Local Law 199 of 2019 is a massive, massive overhaul of an industry that had for too long been a race-to-the-bottom. The idea is to create safer conditions for private sanitation workers, better service for businesses, and improved environmental outcomes without seeing massive increases in price.

"There's going to be winners, and there's going to be losers"

Though he is calling for more transparent communication from the Department of Sanitation, Lew Dubuque with the National Waste & Recycling Association is optimistic about the new strategy.

"In a process like this, there's going to be winners, and there's going to be losers," he said. "I think that the city did a great job of selecting a perfect group of companies to roll this process out."

Others in favor of the reforms are calling into question the speed and efficiency of the rollout.

"The rollout ... has fallen short"

Council Member Shaun Abreu, chair of the sanitation committee, told CBS News New York in a statement:

The rollout of commercial waste zones has fallen short. At our recent oversight hearing, we finally got some long-overdue answers on the implementation schedule, but the details are still too vague. DSNY announced the order of zones, but we still don't have clear launch dates. That lack of transparency hurts everyone involved. Environmental justice communities have waited years for this reform and deserve accountable timelines. Businesses—whether scaling up or seeking subcontracting opportunities—need clarity to plan responsibly. This is a major operational shift, and the city must treat it with the urgency it deserves.

The Department of Sanitation said getting it right takes time, adding in part:

It took years of very careful contracting – and a competitive RFP process – to select the carters and do just that. In 18 of the City's 20 zones, there will be at least one awarded carter operating below the current Business Integrity Commission rate cap, and in the remaining two, the increase is in the single digits. This is amazing and is a testament to what can be done when the work is done right.

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