New York City has established programs through its Department of Sanitation to support nonprofit reuse and salvage organizations in order to increase waste diversion and recycling. The donateNYC program provides resources like an online directory and exchange to help residents and businesses donate reusable items. Case studies of organizations like Big Reuse and Rebuilding Together NYC show how they have significant environmental and social impacts by refurbishing and redistributing building materials. The city aims to continue supporting this sector to help achieve its zero waste goals and provide innovative solutions.

1. New York City & the
Nonprofit Salvage Sector
Eszter Csicsai
Senior Manager, Reuse & Donations
Bureau of Recycling & Sustainability, DSNY
Kathryn Garcia, Commissioner
NYC Department of Sanitation

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Overview
• NYC Waste Mitigation & Guiding Plan
• donateNYC programs and research
• NYC’s Nonprofit Building Materials
Reuse/Salvage Sector
• Case study: Big Reuse
• Case study: Rebuilding Together NYC

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Waste in NYC
• 8.5 million residents
• 3.1 million households
• 1,800+ public schools
• 177,000 public housing units
2017
• 3,213,400 tons collected!

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Waste in NYC

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GUIDING MANDATE: OneNYC
• Vision 3: Sustainability
• Goal 2: Zero Waste to Landfills by 2030
• Initiative 6: Expand local reuse opportunities
• “Continue to grow and develop the City’s non- profit reuse sector,
connecting potential donors with organizations that reuse or resell material
to support the arts, public health, and other causes.”
Supporting Reuse in NYC

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To reduce needless waste and increase diversion of reusable material from
landfills, NYC Department of Sanitation established donateNYC in 2016
donateNYC approach:
• Increasing tonnage diversion by developing public-facing technological
platforms and providing direct donation coordination
• Increasing public awareness of and access to opportunities for reuse and
donation
• Supporting and expanding the city’s reuse infrastructure
• Researching and documenting the NYC reuse sector’s zero waste impact
• Preparing and responding to emergency situations that result in surges
of unsolicited donations
Supporting Reuse in NYC

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The focus on these goals speaks to the critical role of both the social economy
and a whole community approach in citywide sustainability and waste
management.
Supporting Reuse in NYC

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Comprehensive database of local reuse outlets. NYC residents can search online or with
a convenient app by item category, vendor location, and more to find:
• the nearest place that accepts donations of gently used items
• thrift stores, vintage shops, and other outlets selling/distributing
second-hand goods
Residents: donateNYC Directory

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• The donateNYC Exchange facilitates easy exchanges of usable second-
hand or surplus goods between businesses and non-profit organizations.
• Recipient organizations get free usable goods; donors cut their waste, save
on storage and disposal, and may benefit from tax deductions.
Businesses/Nonprofits: donateNYC Exchange

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• Partners are NYC-based nonprofit reuse organizations that take in gently-
used/surplus items and either redistribute them to communities they serve
or resell them and use proceeds to fund social and community services.
• Serves as a nonprofit reuse “trade association” that supports local nonprofit
reuse organizations: opportunities to “talk shop”, share challenges and
solutions, pool resources, share donations, organize events and
campaigns—raise all boats!
• Benefits include networking and professional training opportunities,
publicity, reuse data management and calculation, involvement in reuse
sector research projects, participation in events, and support for innovative
reuse solutions.
donateNYC Partnership

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donateNYC Partnership

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• Research on needs and innovation in the reuse sector
• Reporting on the size and characteristics of the reuse sector
• Development of methodologies to quantify the waste diversion and zero
waste contribution of materials reuse in NYC
• Provide environmental impact statistics to partner reuse organizations for
promotional purposes [marketing, fund-raising]
• Challenges of quantifying reuse:
◦ Diversity of products
◦ Fragmented data from reuse organizations
◦ Unknown material composition of products required to estimate
environmental impact
Reuse Sector Research

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• Global Product Classification system to standardize data from organizations
• Development of standard tables for weight and material composition of
reused products
• Input quantitative and qualitative information
◦ Volume/Weight/Quantity + Product Description
• Automatically classifies products in standardized categories
• Perform calculations:
◦ Product and material weight
◦ CO2 emissions and energy reduction
• Use emission factors from EPA Waste Reduction Model (WARM) to
estimate impact
Reuse Impact Calculator (RIC)

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Impact of Nonprofit Building Salvage Sector

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Impact of Building Materials Reuse/Salvage
Sector

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Case Study: Big Reuse

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Environmental Impact: Big Reuse

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Social Impact: Big Reuse

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Supporting the Sector: Big Reuse

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Case Study: Rebuilding Together NYC

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Environmental Impact: RTNYC

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Social Impact: RTNYC

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Supporting the Sector: RTNYC

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• Environmental impact
◦ Diversion through donations/reuse
◦ Developing innovative solutions as experts in the field
◦ Awareness raising in industry
• Social impact
◦ Workforce development
◦ Volunteerism/engaging people in communities
◦ Making communities more resilient
• Sustainability of successful programs
◦ Whole community approach = longevity of programs & outcomes
• Knowledge building
◦ Crucial information provided to City from sources on the ground
Conclusion: Why support the sector

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• Research and analysis
◦ Quantify what is needed from sector
◦ Quantify potential of sector to respond to needs
◦ Analyze needs of sector
◦ Quantify impact of each entity
• Communications
◦ Present the sector as crucial partner in reaching City goals
◦ Promote presence and “brand recognition” of sector
• Network building
◦ Raise all ships together across sector
◦ Create opportunities for sector to build itself—networking, “talking shop,”
opportunities for synergy
• Invite & Support Innovation
◦ Create opportunities for sector to present new solutions
◦ Invite knowledge-sharing from sector to understand on-the-ground issues
◦ Support cross-sector partnerships and collaborations
Conclusion: Ways to support the sector

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• Real Estate
• Transportation
• Quality of goods
Looking to the future: Challenges

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Eszter Csicsai
ecsicsai@dsny.nyc.gov
www.nyc.gov/donate
Thank you!