New York City regulators are addressing the need to change how the city handles waste management.


According to Resource Recycling, NYC’s waste management system is on its way to being drastically changed yet again. The city’s new goal is to eventually send none of its waste material to disposal: net zero waste.


This will undoubtedly be a difficult task since NYC is the country’s largest metropolis.


“This is not an easy question, there are cities all over the country that are trying to tackle a zero waste plan to figure out how we’re going to do this,” said Bridget Anderson, deputy commissioner of recycling and sustainability for the New York City Department of Sanitation. “What we’re learning is, it’s all hands on deck. It’s not just one agency that’s going to solve this problem, it’s really a step-by-step approach.”


The Associated Press reports that the Department of Environmental Conservation launched a comprehensive revision plan in February 2016. The initial proposal focused on dealing with illegal disposal of demolition and construction debris, oil and gas production waste, as well as composting and recycling.


“There is very little space to set up recycling infrastructure and build in these public housing buildings,” Anderson added, meaning that, currently, the city’s recyclable items are being improperly disposed of in waste containers.


The city’s change to reusable grocery bags instead of plastic is a major contributing factor to net zero waste as well. Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to degrade and end up polluting landfills and NYC coastlines.


Anderson stated that it’s been a challenge to get city residents 100% onboard because many of them still use plastic grocery bags rather than compostable bags.


“To get broad participation in a program, we have to find a way to accept the behavior that people are going to have, to get them to participate.”