NYC Landfill Data Project

We used hard-to-find waste data to produce stories about where New York City sends its landfill. Below is the waste-shed of 18 landfills and incinerators used in 2021.

This project began in Late Fall of 2023 and is ongoing.

Through the dogged efforts of my research partner, Dr. Samantha MacBride, Adjunct Professor at CUNY Baruch, the datasets are now public on the NYC Open Data Platform.

1: DSNY Disposal Facilities Used by Year

2: DSNY Disposal Sites Used by Facilities by Year

3: Location of Disposal Facilities and Sites Used for DSNY-Managed Waste

We will continue to work to advocating for the public release of waste data, and for the assessment of it to inform policies that systematically improve the waste system.