The NYC Department of Sanitation’s (DSNY) East 91 Street Marine Transfer Station is the transfer point for household waste from Manhattan residents . The waste is loaded into containers and placed on barges to be offloaded onto a rail service. The waste is then transported to waste to energy facilities in Pennsylvania and New York . It began operations in March 2019 and now processes an average of 550 tons per day. DSNY holds a long-term contract with Covanta, which manages 6 day/week service to the waste to energy facilities.

When Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island closed in 2001, DSNY shifted to a truck-based system to cart waste from the city to distant landfills. The 91 Street Marine Transfer Station is a key part of the city’s 20-year Solid Waste Management Plan, which re-activated marine and rail transfer sites to shift waste handled by DSNY to a rail- and marine-based transportation system, dramatically reducing air pollution caused by truck-based transport.