New Yorkers eat a lot of pizza. They eat so much pizza that the dish warrants its own recycling bin.
Ahead of the summer season, Central Park now has a pizza box recycling bin in a busy area adjacent to the Great Lawn, The Central Park Conservancy announced. The pilot program is part of the citywide attempt to curb its rat population.
The new bin was "specifically designed" for the shape of pizza boxes, the non-profit organization responsible for park maintenance said.
"The traditional circular waste bins are simply not designed to accommodate the boxes, leading to jammed cans that can attract rodents," Central Park Conservancy spokesperson Kat Brady added. "On a warm busy day, the Conservancy can remove more than 100 boxes in this area of the Park alone."
It's a misconception that greasy pizza boxes can't be recycled. The Department of Sanitation says residents can put them with paper recycling. If you live in a Curbside Composting area, they can go in your brown bin.
If the program in Central Park is successful, New Yorkers could see more pizza box recycling bins at other Central Park locations.
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In a separate effort to mitigate rats, New York City on Wednesday announced that it is hosting an inaugural rat summit this fall. It's where a wide range of experts from across the country will come together and "share best practices on rodent mitigation, and advance the science of urban rat management."
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“With 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.