New York tackles waste crisis with mandatory plastic bins

The American dream ended a long time ago — perhaps when Poland began hearing about the prohibitive costs of food, education, healthcare, or renting an apartment in the USA. Paid vacation? It's not common there. Perpetually congested roads, weak public transportation, fentanyl, and shootings in public places: that's how teenage dreams of an ideal country faded. Going there for vacation — definitely. Living there — sure, there are benefits, but is the grass really greener according to just stories? Probably not.

The USA may pride itself on technological or economic superiority, but in certain aspects, it drastically falls behind. In 2024, the mayor of New York introduced innovations to the city—wheeled containers that will become part of the "trash revolution."

At a Monday press conference, New York Mayor Eric Adams demonstrated a plastic trash can. By June 1, 2026, he announced that every building with one to nine apartments would have to purchase an NYC Bin — a plastic-wheeled trash can. The cost of the trash bin is $50, which will be shared among the apartment tenants. Starting November 12 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, New Yorkers must place waste in any container. This aims to solve the problem of bags piling up on the streets, spilling trash, and bad odours. It might also reduce the population of rats, which until now have been able to scavenge quite freely around the unsecured food scraps.

"Many people thought it was impossible that these small containers would be part of our trash revolution. [...] We're just catching up to what other municipalities worldwide are currently doing," acknowledged the Mayor of New York. More significant residential buildings are also included in the plan. "Think about it: That's over 5 billion kilograms of trash annually that we won't see or smell," summarized Eric Adams.