City looking to overhaul trash

The City Council voted Tuesday to give trash haulers five years notice of the city's intent to dramatically overhaul private waste collection - a shift that could force many smaller waste companies out of the city.Daily News,

The unanimous vote Tuesday was the opening salvo in a controversial fight over how businesses and apartment complexes dispose of trash and recyclables.

The city currently has an open market system, in which about 145 private trash haulers negotiate directly with commercial customers to pick up their trash. The Bureau of Sanitation wants to transition to a so-called exclusive franchise system, in which haulers would compete with each other for city contracts to pick up trash in designated areas.