On our way to zero waste — and zero emissions

By Edward Grayson, Commissioner, NYC Sanitation

We in the Department of Sanitation take pride in our mission of keeping New York City streets clean and safe, while working to reduce — and eventually eliminate — the amount of waste we send to landfills. At the same time, we are also taking groundbreaking steps toward cleaner air in New York City by beginning to convert our fleet to all-electric vehicles.

Picture a fleet of all-electric vehicles, and you no doubt see an image of small, efficient, light-duty cars that we have grown accustomed to in recent years. As part of our sustainability goals, the vast majority of our 1,000 light-duty vehicles are hybrid-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and we plan to convert them to all-electric in the coming years. This will result in cleaner air for all New Yorkers and reduced greenhouse gas emissions for the planet — and it is just a start for us. By 2040, the city’s entire municipal fleet, from ferries to ambulances and yes, even our Sanitation collection trucks, will be all-electric, per Executive Order №53, signed last year by Mayor de Blasio.

Because we at the Department of Sanitation have such a large fleet of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, meeting that requirement will be extra challenging — and I am proud to say that we are well on our way. We are not only the largest municipal waste agency in the world, but we are also the first to pilot the use of all-electric street sweepers and collection trucks.

Last November, our first all-electric Sanitation truck made its maiden voyage on the streets of Bushwick, Brooklyn, part of a year-long collaboration with Mack Trucks. As we use this truck daily, we evaluate payload capacity, regenerative braking, operating range, charging requirements and overall vehicle performance. We were pleased to find that the truck generally finishes its typical route with close to 50 percent of its power still available.

In fact, we have been so pleased with the overall performance, we now plan to order seven all-electric trucks so that one can operate in each of our zones — one each for the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, and two each in Brooklyn or Queens. We hope that these pilots continue to be successful so that we can further electrify our fleet of Sanitation trucks.

At the same time, we are also piloting our first all-electric street sweeper. Our diesel-powered street sweepers — as well as our 27 hybrid sweepers — each travel 7,000 miles per year. It is estimated that our all-electric street sweeper — operating daily on the streets of Bushwick since this spring — will save 89 metric tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking 19 cars off the road for one year, over the lifetime of the vehicle.

The ongoing transition to an all-electric fleet will require more than purchasing electric vehicles. We must also equip our garages with the infrastructure to charge these vehicles. Many of our garages are several decades old and will need to be upgraded (or replaced and expanded) to accommodate charging stations. We are also working with our local utilities and other stakeholders to ensure power will be available to charge a large fleet.

When I first started with the Sanitation Department in 1999, the thought of an all-electric fleet was unfathomable. But today, spurred by a greater awareness of air quality concerns and climate change, the Sanitation Department and private industry are working together to meet the challenges of this century. I am proud of the steps we are taking, and I hope they set an example for the rest of the country and will lead to an even cleaner, more sustainable, and resilient city for future generations.