In 2022, New York City awarded consultancy giant McKinsey a $4 million contract to figure out how to deal with the city’s trash problem. The results of the study are in - trash is better off inside trash bins.
Yes, at the end of the $1.6 million study over two years, McKinsey has figured out that trash bags are better contained in bins rather than strewn on sidewalks. If this reads like satire, you are not alone in thinking so. Social media has been flooded with memes and jokes on NYC Bin.
Here’s what happened
In 2022, New York City’s department of sanitation and Economic Development Corporation awarded a $4m contract to McKinsey to figure out how to deal with the city’s growing trash problem.
Mayor Eric Adams said the study was part of his “Trash Revolution” and aimed to eliminate the number of rats in the city. The idea to commission the study apparently came from sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch, who on Monday stood besides Mayor Adams to unveil the wheeled bins that will now be used to collect trash.
Starting November 2024, all small buildings in NYC will have to use the wheeled bins to collect garbage bags.
The McKinsey study
{{/usCountry}}Starting November 2024, all small buildings in NYC will have to use the wheeled bins to collect garbage bags.
The McKinsey study
{{/usCountry}}McKinsey spent 20 weeks studying the best ways to collect trash. The consultancy giant analysed waste collection methods around the world to say, in a presentation of 95 slides, that trash bags should be placed inside trash bins rather than left on the street.
The study pointed to containerization, which is says is “the storage of waste in sealed, rodent-proof receptacles rather than in plastic bags.” In its study titled “The Future of Trash”, McKinsey said that containerization “is intended to mechanize waste collection, reduce the visibility of garbage set out in public spaces, and reduce the presence of vermin.”
According to The Guardian, McKinsey was paid $1.6 million though the original contract had a maximum legal value of $4 million.
The jokes
The jokes – and trust us, there are plenty – wondered whether a bunch of management consultants were really paid millions to say that trash bags are better off in waste collection bins.
“Hiring McKinsey seems a little unnecessary at best. The city should be developing this kind of expertise in-house, at city agencies,” councilwoman Sandy Nurse told Gothamist.