Solid Waste

The solid waste recycling programs at CECONY and O&R are supported by corporate policies aimed at reducing the amount of non- hazardous waste that we produce. The vast majority of our solid waste streams, including retired fleet vehicles, forklifts, tool carts, old cables, streetlights, reflectors, meters, and paper products, are recycled or auctioned. We require source separation of a variety of waste streams, including cable, paper, wood, plastic and certain metals.

The majority of the excavated soil from street excavation at CECONY and O&R is recycled through our approved Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities. The excavated material is tested to confirm that it meets state requirements and then reused as backfill and underlayment within our service territory. This helps to keep excavated material out of our landfills.

Hazardous Waste

Over the past 25 years, CECONY has drastically reduced the volume of hazardous waste generated through our lead waste stabilization process. In 1998, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation approved its request to develop a process that stabilizes lead waste that would otherwise be considered hazardous, resulting in a greatly reduced volume disposed as a non-hazardous solid waste. The process was first implemented in the early 2000s and we regularly confirm the efficacy of our lead waste stabilization through sampling. In 2023, our processes reduced our hazardous waste stream by more than 37,478 tons.

Even with the tremendous strides thus far, we are still committed to reducing our hazardous waste generation even further. For 2024, our Board of Trustees has endorsed efforts to reduce the remainder of our routinely generated lead waste, which we plan to tackle in multiple ways. One effort underway is mapping our underground structures and cables that may still contain lead. This tool will be able to help us make informed decisions as to whether we can handle waste generated from these structures as non-hazardous which we have traditionally assumed to be hazardous in the past. We are also examining ways to expand our lead waste stabilization program to apply the process to even more of our work.

Another hazardous waste reduction effort in the upcoming year is to further reduce the remaining polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentration in our system. Historically associated with our electric equipment, we have already retrofitted our transformers with non-PCB dielectric fluid and have been removing the rest of our PCB-containing equipment as we make upgrades and repairs to our system. We are now looking at comprehensively mapping our remaining PCB-containing equipment so that we can strategically target their complete removal.

With these two efforts combined, we hope to reduce our hazardous generation by over 90%.

For other potentially hazardous waste we may encounter, we continue to use our Chemical Lab to identify the presence of any contamination requiring special treatment. This characterization process allows us to properly handle, containerize and dispose of these wastes. By doing so, we minimize the risks to human health and the environment that can result from misclassifying waste.

Radioactive Waste

At CECONY and O&R, we recognize that the management and disposal of radioactive waste is an important issue.

While we do not routinely generate radioactive waste, we do have procedures in place that provide guidelines for its management and proper disposal so that we are prepared should we encounter this type of waste. We maintain a Radiation Safety Officer as well as Radioactive Waste Material subject matter expert on staff to address management and disposal matters.

Emerging Waste Streams

CECONY and O&R are working with regulators and industry leaders to plan for emerging waste streams associated with renewable technologies such as solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbines.

Additionally, CECONY and O&R continue to monitor regulatory developments on the classification of solar panels as universal waste, and for the handling of waste containing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (more commonly referred to as PFAS). There has been a regulatory change in the classification of some aerosol cans as universal waste and CECONY is assessing the feasibility to use this change for the Company.

Reducing Wastes

Similar to our hazardous waste stream tracking system, we recently developed a non-hazardous waste tracking system to increase visibility and governance of all of our waste streams and expect to implement the system in 2024. In parallel, our efforts in 2023 focused on establishing baselines for all waste streams including those that were not previously tracked. The baseline data as well as the tracking systems we are developing will assist us in targeting opportunities for waste reduction and future reduction goals.

CECONY’s engineering design for the Vinegar Hill Substation (pictured below) recently reduced solid waste/construction debris through the repurposing of the former Hudson Avenue Tank Farm wall as the substation security wall. Innovative solutions such as this reduce demolition costs and reduce truck traffic and pollution in our service territory.

During the construction of the Blooming Grove Substation the significant reuse of brush, rock, and excavated soil allowed O&R to improve threatened and endangered species habitat onsite, while avoiding at least $1 million in solid waste landfill disposal costs. The success of this project is expected to provide a working template for similar results on future projects.

E-Waste

CECONY and O&R’s Information Technology (IT) department is committed to reducing its computers, electronic media, and electronic equipment waste (e-waste) footprint through environmentally friendly methods of recycling or reuse. Our e-waste disposals are rigorously tracked with multiple audit checkpoints to confirm that all personnel are following defined standards developed in a partnership between our Environmental Health & Safety and IT departments.

CECONY and O&R’s IT department recognizes the importance of this issue and is committed to doing its part to protect the environment. Recycling e-waste is an important step towards reducing the environmental impact of electronic waste. By recycling e-waste, we can recover valuable materials and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. We also ensure any recycling facilities we utilize for e-waste are meticulously vetted and approved by an internal committee to ensure they comply with the highest environmental standards.

We are entering into a new phase of e-waste management and will introduce changes to optimize our practices and processes. The benefits from these changes include greater transparency from generation to recycling and disposal while allowing us to better quantify and analyze our generated e-waste.

In 2023, we recycled over 134,000 pounds of e-waste. This achievement is significant and demonstrates our commitment to protecting the environment and highlights the steps we are taking to help reach a circular economy. To that end, in a new contract with our incoming e-waste recycling vendor, we are ensuring any IT equipment that may not serve our needs anymore are remarketed when possible so that they can be reused first. We are also exploring opportunities to donate salvageable computing equipment to organizations in need of technology. By donating these items, we can help bridge the digital divide and provide access to technology to those in need.

Download Report