As we often feel a somewhat wicked sense of relief when it turns out that the grass is not always greener in the neighbor’s garden, this article might be a nice breath of fresh air in the July heat and amidst battle-and-bad-news-filled political reports.
Reading news like the one referred to below, one can finally understand the struggle of economists when trying to define the development or living standard indexes.
New York City, the Big Apple — the world’s pulsating heart of finance, fashion, and culture, where the skyline is punctuated by towering skyscrapers and the streets are filled with a never-ending symphony of car horns and cursing pedestrians.
The city that never sleeps, is always innovating, always ahead of the curve—or so we thought.
In a move that has left the rest of the world both bewildered and bemused, New York has unveiled its latest groundbreaking innovation: the wheelie bin.
Yes, you heard that right.
The city that gave us the subway, the bagel, and, let’s not forget, $100 million condos, has just discovered the humble wheelie bin.
It only took a mere $1.6 million and nearly two years of consultancy work from McKinsey & Company to get there.
The wheelie bin rollout was part of Mayor Eric Adams’s grand “Trash Revolution,” a name so grandiose one would expect it to involve robots, lasers, or at the very least, some AI-powered contraptions. But no, it’s just bins with wheels.
On a bright Monday morning, the mayor, side by side with sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch, introduced the NYC Bin to an eager crowd of journalists and onlookers. To the tunes of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind, Adams strutted down the driveway of Gracie Mansion, pushing the new bin with all the pride of a parent at a kindergarten graduation. “Welcome to our trash revolution,” he declared, as cameras clicked and reporters scribbled furiously.
In a city where the police department has robot dogs, yet the sanitation department is still struggling with basic containerization, it was a sight to behold.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the irony here.
New York, the richest city in the world, with a police budget of $5.8 billion and a penchant for futuristic tech, has just figured out that putting trash in a container might be a good idea. The rest of the world, particularly the Brits, who have had wheelie bins for decades, couldn’t help but laugh. And laugh they did, turning the NYC Bin into an instant internet meme. The Brits, who love nothing more than to feel superior to Americans (especially as their own country stumbles from one crisis to another), found a golden opportunity in New York’s trash triumph.
But why did it take so long for New York to embrace this marvel of modern sanitation?
To answer that, we need to rewind to 2022, when the city’s Department of Sanitation and the Economic Development Corporation decided to splash out on a $4 million contract (which ended up costing only $1.6 million) with McKinsey & Company.
The goal was to figure out how to deal with the city’s mounting trash problem. You might think this would involve some high-level, complex strategies. But according to insiders, McKinsey’s groundbreaking recommendation boiled down to: “Hey, have you tried putting the trash in bins?”
Of course, there were skeptics. Councilwoman Sandy Nurse, chair of the sanitation and solid waste management committee, questioned the need for such a hefty expenditure, pointing out that the city already had plenty of research on waste management. But the Adams administration pressed on, convinced that this was the kind of revolutionary thinking New York needed.
The newly introduced rules, which will take effect in November 2024, require all properties with one to nine residential units to use these latch-lidded waste collectors. Priced at a modest $46, these bins are designed to be durable, affordable, and better looking than anything currently available. And most importantly, they are expected to combat the city’s notorious rat problem. With an estimated rat population nearing three million, New Yorkers are hopeful that the bins will do more than just hold trash—they will be warriors in the battle against vermin.
The rollout event was a spectacle.
Adams, ever the showman, dramatically tossed a black bag into the bin, walked to the lectern, and proclaimed the start of the trash revolution. On social media, the event was treated with the kind of mockery reserved for only the most egregious examples of bureaucratic excess. Critics pounced, accusing the administration of ignoring more pressing issues like crime and immigration. The revelation that McKinsey had a hand in this grand innovation only added fuel to the fire. One Twitter user quipped, “If you’re bad at spending money, just remember that NYC paid McKinsey $4 million for a study on whether trash bags should go in trash cans.”
Despite the backlash, there are those who see the bright side. Max Chafkin of Bloomberg pointed out that trash collection is, in fact, a modern miracle, especially in a dense city like New York. The city’s sanitation workers perform an essential service, often under challenging conditions, and any improvement, no matter how seemingly small or absurd, is welcome. The McKinsey report, while mocked, did highlight the complexities of New York’s unique waste management challenges and offered insights into why containerization, though simple, is a worthwhile endeavor.
So, while the world laughs, New Yorkers can take solace in knowing that their trash is now in bins, where it belongs. And as we look to the future, perhaps we can expect more revolutions from City Hall. Maybe next year, they’ll discover recycling, or dare we dream, composting. Until then, we can all enjoy the spectacle of New York’s latest innovation—one wheelie bin at a time.
For those, whose curiosity was woken by this novelty: the history of trash cans is long.
The concept of organized waste management and the implementation of the first trash can policy are rooted in history dating back to the 19th century.
The first comprehensive and systematic approach to waste management, including the use of trash cans, can be traced to Paris, France. Eugène Poubelle, the Prefect of the Seine, implemented a decree on March 7, 1884, that required property owners to provide covered containers for their tenants’ refuse.
Meanwhile, across the pond, New York City had its own trash revolution in past —or at least, it did for a while. In the early 20th century, New Yorkers used Oscar-the-Grouch-style metal bins, but by the 1970s, the city shifted to plastic bags, considering it a modern marvel of waste management. However, this change came with its own set of problems: a never-ending parade of black trash bags lining the sidewalks, creating a buffet for the city’s infamous rat population.
We can be sure that McKinsey will be happy in yet another two decades to find reasons why plastic bags are better than cans, of course for the perfect price in that time.
