New York City should shift away from expensive hauling of its garbage and instead implement a system of local waste-conversion facilities that create much-needed energy supplies.

Click above to download (.pdf) the Citizens Budget Commission report.So says the Citizens Budget Commission, which released its report "Taxes In, Garbage Out," on Thursday. 

The influential civic group concluded that waste conversion technology is cheaper and better for the environment than long-hauling waste, and that opposition to expanding waste conversion is rooted in misunderstanding. 

This report recommends that the city make waste-to-energy conversion a much larger component of its solid waste management strategy. If the city were to convert just a third of its waste, the annual savings would be $119 milllion, the report concludes, and greenhouse gas emissions would drop by 240,000 metric tons a year. 

Late last year, the NYLCV Education Fund held a forum on the issue of solid waste and the potential for waste conversion in New York City. Our background paper on the issue highlighted the rising costs to taxpayers for the city's current waste management practices, and recommended investigating waste conversion as one potential solution.