3. After Trash is Collected by the Department of Sanitation, it is Sent Out of State

An active freight rail track that moves garbage from the Bronx to locations out of state

Prior to 2001, New York City’s trash was sent to the Fresh Kills landfill to be sorted and disposed. But when Fresh Kills closed permanently following September 11, 2001, the city began sending its trash away from the five boroughs. Today, New York exports 85 percent of its trash to landfills in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and upstate New York. In 2014, it cost an estimated $300 million per year to export New York’s garbage.