Don’t Call This Plan ‘Garbage’

The Post’s Nov. 5 editorial (“Trash This ‘Reform’ ”) paints a rosy picture of a private wastecollection system. The truth isn’t as rosy.

More than 100 carting companies crisscross the city nightly, with some blocks visited by more than a dozen carters each night.

This creates excess noise, traffic and air pollution. It also risks lives: Three New Yorkers have been killed by privatecarter trucks since April.

While recycling has been required for decades, many carters have flouted these laws. And some trucks are more than 30 years old, lacking modern pollution controls.

That’s why we’re working to create a truly fair and efficient system that benefits all businesses, large and small. Kathryn Garcia Commissioner, Sanitation Department Brooklyn

Far from being “lunatic,” the city’s plan for commercial waste zones is an essential fix for multiple problems.

While large corporations may be able to ne- gotiate good deals with haulers, the same is not true for the city’s small businesses. Some 60 percent have no contract with their hauler, and 90 percent pay a flat rate, regardless of how much waste they generate.

Under the reforms, the city must ensure fair and transparent pricing for customers and enable them to save if they recycle more. Maritza Silva-Farrell Executive Director, ALIGN Brooklyn