Our Government

Residential Waste versus Commercial Waste

What is Residential Waste?

Residential waste is defined by law as unwanted items generated by homeowners or apartment dwellers, in the course of their daily household activities. Food waste and non-recyclable paper packaging are residential waste.  Items designated by the TNH as recyclable must be separated from household trash and placed out in accordance with the TNH’s instructions for separate recycling collection.  Other residential waste includes items such things as clean outs of closets, attics. garages, or yard clean-up that are performed by the homeowner, not a paid contractor.  “Bulky” items that do not fit in a trash receptacle, i.e., couches and mattresses are residential waste.  “Bulk” items and items cleaned out by homeowners should be set out on the last collection day of the week when garbage trucks have more remaining capacity. When an item is very large, it may not be manageable by the sanitation worker. In these cases, the homeowner must call the neighborhood’s contracted private collector to determine when and if it can be set out for residential collection.

What is Commercial Waste?

Commercial waste is the unwanted items resulting from the activity of a contractor on private property.  Whatever materials result from a contractor’s renovation of a kitchen, bathroom or any other part of a house or apartment renovation is commercial waste.  All commercial waste without exception must be removed by the contractor performing the service.  It CANNOT be set out by homeowners as residential waste.

When a landscaper performs maintenance of a yard, the landscaper is required by law to remove any and all of the organic waste created and to transport the material to a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) approved facility.  This organic waste may not be set at the curb by homeowners as residential waste.

Licensed contractors know the law and that they are responsible for the disposal of any waste created by their activities at residential property.  Whatever cost is incurred for the scope of work to be performed by a licensed contractor must include the cost of disposal of the waste they create while at the job site. Besides being licensed, bonded and insured for your protection, licensed contractors have a vested interested in following the law to maintain the validity of the license they hold, as well as uphold the environmental standards that are linked to their disposal responsibilities.  All homeowners are cautioned regarding the use of unlicensed contractors, the use of which can subject both the unlicensed contractor and the homeowner to fines, and the homeowner to greater financial liability.

Some examples of commercial waste:

• Waste resulting from renovations or general home improvements performed by a hired contractor, whether small or large in scale
• Landscaping services
• Electrical and plumbing repair and replacement
• Wood, tile or carpet flooring replacement performed by a contractor
• Painting services performed by a contractor
• Roof repair or replacement

  Other large bulky items for which there are other options than curbside set out:

• Delivery and installation of a new appliance. Ask at the time of purchase if the company takes back the old appliance at the time of delivery of the new appliance. For refrigerators and other major electrical appliances, check out your local utility company’s take-back and rebate programs for old appliances, when purchasing a new energy efficient appliance.
• Delivery of a new mattress.Ask at the time of purchase if the company removes old mattresses at the time of delivery of the new mattress.Asking at the time of purchase for both appliances and mattresses will save a homeowner having to remove these items themselves.
• Electronic waste.Certain electronic waste items (link to list) have been designated as part of a NYS Producer Responsibility Law passed in 2010 as prohibited from collection along with residential and commercial waste.These items must either be returned to the manufacturer via a manufacturer sponsored take-back program or brought to a local solid waste management facility accepting the designated electronics on designated days. Note: many electronics retailers’ take back electronics covered by the law when delivering a new replacement electronics item of the same type or allow for the drop-off of the same item at their store.

Is the waste resulting from Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects considered residential waste?

Within reason (limited volume), renovation project waste resulting from a homeowner’s own activity to improve his or her home can be considered residential waste.  However, excessive amounts of waste resulting from a homeowner’s DIY project would likely require the hiring of a dumpster service or a trash removal service.  The TNH’s trash collection services are designed to collect the regular trash generated by homeowners from daily household activities on a weekly basis and not the volume of waste that would result from a construction project.