In a city where pizza is one of the most common and accessible meals, the role this could play in attracting rats to the streets and in parks where there are greasy boxes stuffed in trash cans and scattered outside of them is pretty significant.
As part of a pilot program designed to combat this issue in NYC, the Central Park Conservancy now has a pizza box recycling bin in a busy area next to the Great Lawn in an effort to minimize the rodent population before the Summer season kicks off.
According to the non-profit organization responsible for the Park’s maintenance, the new bin was “specifically designed” for the shape of pizza boxes.
While some may have the misconception that you can’t recycle pizza boxes, the Department of Sanitation says residents can put them in with paper recycling, and if you live in a curbside composting area, they can go in your brown bin.
If the Central Park program is a success, it’s likely that people will begin to see more of these customized recycling bins at other spots in the park.
“The traditional circular waste bins are simply not designed to accommodate the boxes, leading to jammed cans that attract rodents,” Kat Brady, a spokesperson for the conservancy said. “On a warm busy day, the Conservancy can remove more than 100 boxes in this area of the Park alone.”
As part of a separate initiative to deal with the rat population, the city announced Wednesday that it is hosting an inaugural rat summit this fall. At the event, a wide range of experts from across the country will convene and “share best practices on rodent mitigation, and advance the science of urban rat management.”
“Wit rat sightings down nearly 14 percent in our city’s Rat Mitigation Zones year over year, we continue to make progress, but we’re not stopping there,” Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday. “The best way to defeat our enemy is to know our enemy.”
