N.Y. City Mayor Spearheads Massive Commercial Waste Reduction Initiative

As part of New York's observance of Earth Day last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a plan to reduce city waste output by 90 percent by 2030. Early this month the mayor’s office announced that 30 businesses had accepted the “Zero Waste Challenge” last February, promising to halve landfill disposals by June. Whole Foods Market, Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, Anheuser Busch, Citi Field (N.Y. Mets), Barclays Center (Brooklyn Nets), The Peninsula and Waldorf Astoria hotels, Le Bernardin restaurant, and e-commerce website Etsy Inc. all agreed to cut their trash output. Since February, the businesses have used various strategies to divert 13,000 tons of trash from landfills.