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.

[1]Click above to download (.pdf) the Citizens Budget Commission report.So says the Citizens Budget Commission [2], which released its report "Taxes In, Garbage Out," on Thursday. 

The influential civic group concluded [3] 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 [3] on the issue of solid waste and the potential for waste conversion in New York City. Our background paper [3] 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.