DSNY Rule Forces Restaurants To Place Food In Secure Containers As of August 1

The New York City Department of Sanitation’s crusade against the rat population continues. A new rule, set to go into effect Aug. 1, will require all food-related businesses to use “rigid containers with secure lids” when setting out refuse or organic material for collection. The rule does not apply to recyclables, nor to businesses whose waste is collected via loading dock.

A DSNY notice details that businesses may set out trash an hour prior to closing or anytime after 8:00 PM. Containers are to be stored inside businesses or in a rear yard if possible; otherwise, they may be maintained in a neat and orderly manner on the sidewalk. Pedestrian complaints about rogue trash bins are perhaps inevitable, but they aren’t going anywhere—this rule is just the latest in NYC’s ongoing effort toward citywide waste containerization.

This approach, used by cities across the world, offers several advantages to New York’s current waste-disposal system. Certainly, though, stemming the growth of the rat population is among the most salient. “Reduction in accessible trash is the single most effective intervention to curb rat populations,” according to a 2016 published in the Journal of Environmental Health. A new DSNY flyer put it a little more bluntly: “Your business is our partner in the war on rats.”