Areas of New York Creating the Most Trash

Keeping your home clean and tidy is the job that we help with, but removing the trash and transporting it away from the city is that of the city. However, as many residents know all too well, trash piling up on the sidewalk outside of buildings has become a regular occurrence and problem for many.

To help understand where the problem of trash around New York is coming from, we’ve analyzed data from the City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to reveal which areas of New York produce the most trash.

Analyzing the data from the City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY), we’ve been able to reveal just how much trash is being produced in New York, the amount being thrown out in each of the five boroughs and 51 Council districts, and how much the average person disposes of each year.

Additionally, we’ve also been able to reveal just how much recycling is being produced, as well as the sheer volume of Christmas Trees disposed of each year.

Key Data Points

• Since the start of 2024, over 1.3 million tons of trash have been collected by the DSNY.
• Since 2020, New Yorkers have produced an average of nearly 2.6 million tons of trash per year.
• Brooklyn produces the most on average per year, with DSNY collecting an average of 850,233 tons from addresses in Brooklyn since 2020.
• Since 2020, 1.1 million tons of paper, 1.2 million tons of metal, plastic and glass (MPG), and 4.8 thousand tons of Christmas Trees have been disposed of in New York.
• Paper recycling in New York dropped 13% between 2020 and 2023.
• Metal, plastic, and glass recycling dropped 19% between the start of 2020 and end of 2023.

Trash Disposal in New York

Data from the City of New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) revealed that in the first seven months of 2024, over 1.3 million tons of trash had already been collected by its services. 

On average, this equates to 186,703 tons of trash per month since the start of the year.

Data showed that a third (33%) of this trash originates from Brooklyn, with Queens (28%) as the second most trash-producing borough, and the Bronx (17%) the third-highest producer of trash.

Tons of Trash Produced in 2024

*First seven months of 2024

Since 2020, New York has produced almost 11.7 million tons of trash (11,685,720), averaging almost 2.6 million tons in each full year. Per person, this equates to 1.3 tons of trash per New York resident, or an average of 0.29 tons per person per year.

Tons of Trash Produced Per Year Since 2020

*Data for the first 7 months of 2024

Areas Producing the Most Trash in New York

For the first seven months of 2024, Brooklyn was revealed to have produced the highest volume of trash in New York (432,349 tons), over 69,000 tons more than the second-highest-producing Borough (Queens). 

However, while Brooklyn produces the most trash in New York overall, per person, its residents are just the second highest producers of trash. It was revealed that Staten Island residents produce the most trash per person, with just 495,747 residents in Staten Island producing 93,060 tons already in 2024, or 0.19 tons per person -  or 27% more than the average person in New York City (0.15 tons)

Brooklyn residents have, so far in 2024, produced the second most trash per person, disposing of 0.16 tons of trash. 

Tons of Trash Per Borough and Per Person In 2024

‍

On average, since 2020, New York residents have produced 0.29 tons of trash per capita, with 2021 (0.31) and 2020 (0.30) recording the highest volumes. 

In the last full year of data (2023) Staten Islanders produced the most trash in New York City, producing 0.36 tons of trash for collection per person. While, in comparison, Manhattan produced just 0.23 tons per person.

Looking more deeply, DSNY data showed that districts produce far different amounts of trash. Figures showed that the district of Jamaica/St. Albans, in Queens, throws out the most trash of any part of New York. 

Over the course of 2023 (the last full year of data) Jamaica/St. Albans residents threw out 79986.2 tons of trash, with Borough Park (Brooklyn), and Flushing (Queens) the second third highest producer of trash in New York.

Community Districts Producing the Most Trash

‍

In comparison to those areas producing the most trash, it was found that Midtown Business District produced the least amount of trash in 2023 (14971.1 tons) followed by the district of Battery Park/Tribeca (15,927.9 tons).

Community Districts Producing the Least Trash

The Areas of New York Recycling the Most

Since the start of 2020, over 1.3 million tons of paper have been recycled by New York residents, with a further 1.3 million tons of metal, plastic, and glass also recycled by people living across New York’s five boroughs. 

Figures showed residents of Brooklyn have recycled the most paper since 2020, recycling 412,437 tons of paper. However, Queens residents are the most likely to recycle metal, plastic, and glass, having recycled over 432,343 tons of MPG materials. 

Recycling and Compostable Material Collected Since 2020

Recycling in New York has Dropped in Recent Years

Data revealed there has been a drop in the amount of paper and MPG (metal, plastic, glass) recycling in New York over recent years.

In 2020, 312,203 tons of paper were collected for recycling in New York, however, in the last full year of data (2023) this has dropped over 13% to 271,152 tons. Similarly, while 348,330 tons of MPG materials were collected for recycling in 2020 this has dropped 19% to 281,711 tons in 2023.

Tons of Paper Collected for Recycling

*First seven months of 2024

The Bronx has seen the sharpest decline in paper recycling, with paper collections falling nearly 21% between 2020 and 2023. The second biggest fall in paper recycling was found to be in Staten Island (17.3%).

Decline in Paper Recycling Between 2020 and 2023

‍

It could be argued that the drop in paper recycling could be down to less paper being used, especially during the COVID years, and people moving to more digital mediums or reading the news or getting their information.

However, it’s not just paper that has seen a drop in recycling, suggesting that people might not be recycling quite as much as they used to or that their ability to recycle has been reduced in recent years.

Tons of MPG Materials Collected for Recycling

*First seven months of 2024

Figures show that between 2020 and 2023, recycling of MPG material fell by nearly a quarter (24%) in Staten Island and by over a fifth in the Bronx (22%), with the overall fall in metal, plastic, and glass in recycling collections down by over 19% across the city. 

Decline in MPG Materials Collected for Recycling Between 2020 and 2023

‍

It should be noted that between 2020 and 2023, trash collected in New York has also fallen, by just under 7%. However, this equates to over 167,000 tons of trash not being collected as it was in 2020.

Methodology

We analyzed monthly and annual data released by the New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to reveal the boroughs and districts that throw out the most trash overall, per person, and that is collected for recycling. 

Our analysis also looked at the population of New York, its boroughs, and community districts to help reveal the amount of trash thrown out per person in each area of New York. 

Sources

• New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) data: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/DSNY-Monthly-Tonnage-Data/ebb7-mvp5/about_data 
• Median income data: https://data.cccnewyork.org/data/table/66/median-incomes#66/107/127/a/a 
• List of New York districts:
  • ‍https://www.icphusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Appendix.pdf ‍
  • https://www1.nyc.gov/site/cau/community-boards/community-boards.page 
• Population data: https://popfactfinder.planning.nyc.gov/explorer/cities/NYC?censusTopics=populationSexAgeDensity&compareTo=2