Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility: Assessment of Sustainability

Abstract

Background. This research paper evaluates the sustainable construction and operations plans of New York City’ Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility; a recyclable waste sorting facility planned to open in Brooklyn around the close of 2013. The facility is part of outgoing Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, a sustainable development plan created in order to usher in an expected one million more residents to New York City. Specifically reviewed are the impacts on the environment, society, and the economy that the project hopes to achieve.

Methodology. In order to conduct this informal study, the report looks to assess one of the most prominent sustainable features highlighted in PlaNYC’s dissemination literature; the planned reduction in sanitation refuse truck vehicle miles traveled (“VMT”) due to the plant’s waterfront location. The use of barges to supplant truck hauling of waste is evaluated by quantifying (1) the total emissions caused over the life cycle of the trucks that are being taken off the road, and (2) the operational emissions that are curtailed due to fewer trucks on the road. Emissions are calculated by analyzing the types of vehicles used, assigning an average gas mileage to these vehicles, and computing the emissions based on the amount of fuel required for the estimated reduction in VMT. This is compared to the emissions that will be produced by the barges employed by the new facility. A follow on claim is that the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, through its use of barge transport, will cause a decrease in on-road congestion, a condition associated with a loss of economic activity and worsened livability. This claim is evaluated by an approximation of how many vehicles will be taken off the road based on the Sunset Park facility’s plans.

Conclusions. The use of barge and elimination of a considerable amount of on-road VMT is concluded to be a more sustainable method of waste transfer, albeit at a hefty price. The amount of emissions reduced, while significant, only amounts to only a small fraction of the city’s total on-road emissions. The congestion reduced because of trucks being pulled off the road is even less significant, leading to the conclusion that the plan will have insignificant influence on economic activity due to the reduction in refuse trucks. A different measure, the proposal to overhaul refuse truck fleets for modern trucks with higher emissions controls is evaluated. Based on these findings, this proposal poses more of a substantial improvement in emissions for the city’s waste management operations at a reasonable cost. 


IV. Discussion

The emissions reductions outlined in the “Results” section of this report demonstrate that the project may contribute to a reduction of emissions, but not as substantially as one would hope. The savings of less than half of a percent of New York City on-road emissions are not justifiable at the estimated $95 million cost of the Sunset Park MRF. The savings of about 310 tons of CO2e emissions are nonetheless substantial and can be said to certainly be the option of choice over the lifespan of the Sunset Park MRF. Further, the energy conserved from the transport of the materials increases the efficiency associated with recovering these materials. In this sense, the emissions reductions are an important step to improving the lifecycle energy demand of products made from the recoverable materials; one that should be replicated in other cities as well.

PlaNYC’s claimed reductions in congestion are less obvious once quantified. At an estimated 23 annual trucks removed from the road, this figure does little to address congestion in New York City. While transportation planning projects can employ measures of economic productivity gains associated with the decrease of congestion, it is obvious that the reduction in refuse trucks on the road is too paltry to conduct such estimations. The refuse trucks affected by this change are those that would transport waste between transfer stations, as opposed residential collection trucks that idyll on residential streets. This is an issue more closely associated with congestion and should be explored by PlaNYC and the Department of Sanitation.

This research is preliminary and relies on several assumptions in its calculations. First, PlaNYC and other Sunset Park MRF planning documents, as well as those published by the operator, Sims, do not provide much analysis or methodology for calculating the savings of 260,000 VMT. The Department of Sanitation likewise does not provide documents about their planned refuse truck changes due to the installment of the Sunset Park MRF. This in itself can be indicative of an expected lack of significant impact on on-road emissions.

Further research should be conducted to supplement this study and to further evaluate the potential emissions and nonrenewable energy use reductions due to the Sunset Park MRF. This study fails to incorporate the energy use and emissions of barges. While it is known that barges can carry up to 28 times the capacity of a refuse truck and are a much more energy efficient source of transportation, there is a need to further evaluate their contribution to GHG emissions. As well, studies on effects to the Claremont Recycling Center and other existing recycling facilities need to be conducted, perhaps when the Sunset Park MRF is opened.


V. Conclusion

The Sunset Park MRF is an important new infrastructure project that is set to help improve the materials lifecycle and the waste management system’s energy use and emissions. The benefits reviewed here are important improvements that highlight the true potential of the recycling plant. It must be noted that these improvements are not a product of the Sunset Park MRF alone, but a concerted effort from several of the initiatives of PlaNYC, as well as recent legislation and changing consumer and industry behavior and preferences. This report focused on qualitatively describing sustainable elements of the Sunset Park MRF as well as offering critiques of these elements, and of the plans and claims of PlaNYC’s literature in describing the new facility. It also provided a preliminary quantification of the claimed benefits in the reduction of refuse truck VMT, including claims of reduced emissions and congestion on New York City roads.

While the calculated results have shown that reductions in the emissions are too small to substantially alter the on-road emissions of the city, there is a substantial benefit to the sustainability of the waste disposal system and lifecycle of the materials it handles. The claim of congestion reduction is not substantiated by this study; the impact is perceived to be too small to afford any measurable benefits due to on-road de-congestion. However, the aforementioned savings in energy due to onsite production, the rainwater runoff reduction, and the educational elements introduced by the Sunset Park MRF make it a sustainable infrastructure project that will continually improve the waste management system of New York City. The reduction of refuse truck travel is a valuable addition to this project and will serve to improve the city government’s contribution to on-road emissions, however modestly.  


Works Cited

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