Campaign Overview
Environmental Advocates NY is advancing policies that tackle the root causes of our waste crisis by redesigning how New York manages and reduces waste. We lead efforts to hold large producers accountable through Extended Producer Responsibility, ensuring that corporations (not taxpayers) finance the collection and safe disposal of the products they create. At the same time, we champion common-sense policies that, while simple, have impacts well beyond their scale—helping to cut waste before it even enters the system.
New York’s waste problem is not contained to landfills. Plastics and packaging are often burned in incinerators or persist in the environment, breaking down into microplastics that have been detected in drinking water, food, human blood, breast milk, and even placentas. When processed in chemical recycling facilities or incinerators, plastics release toxins that fuel climate change and cause health harms, disproportionately impacting environmental justice communities. Beyond plastics, food waste also drives the crisis: 40% of food ends up in landfills, generating an estimated 58% of fugitive methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills. This is not just an environmental issue, it’s also a moral one; one in seven households in New York faces food insecurity. That’s why we work with environmental and food bank partners to reduce waste, curb methane emissions, and expand access to healthy, nutritious food. Cumulatively, these efforts are critical to lowering the 12% of New York’s greenhouse gas emissions that stem from waste.
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