New York Seeks Waste-to-Energy Proposals New York City is soliciting proposals for trying out new technologies that turn garbage into energy. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Tuesday that the city was looking for a pilot "state of the art facility" that could handle a maximum of 450 tons of trash per day - out of a total of 10,000 tons currently in need of disposal - with plans to double that capacity if successful. The plant, which must be in New York City or no farther than 80 miles away, would be privately built and operated. City officials said they were seeking only "the cleanest and latest technologies" that convert trash into heat and electricity and were specifically excluding conventional incineration. Several of these clean technologies, like anaerobic digestion, gasification and hydrolysis, are already in commercial use in Europe and Asia. Some environmental groups have said that the city should be focusing instead on recycling and reducing the amount trash that residents produce. Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, a network of organizations in low-income neighborhoods, said that many of the plants in Europe and elsewhere operate in countries with recycling rates that exceed 40 percent. "New York City's anemic 15 percent recycling rate means our municipal waste stream is dirtier, which means higher pollution emission levels," he said. What is more, he said, "local zoning laws tend to cluster polluting infrastructure in low-income communities of color, and we fear that thermal waste to energy represents that next wave." City officials said the request for proposals requires companies to provide detailed information on greenhouse gas emissions and information about pollution sources in the site's vicinity to help inform the city's evaluation. Any plan will also be subject to public review, they noted. The officials also emphasized that a waste-to-energy facility would only be part of a mix of methods to help the city meet its goal of doubling the amount of waste diverted from landfills. "New Yorkers generate more than 10,000 tons of solid waste every day, and too much of it ends up in landfills," Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement. Using less and recycling more are the most effective ways to address the problem, but this project will help us determine if some of that waste can be converted to safe, clean energy to meet the city's growing power needs. Proposals are due on June 5.