NYSERDA Funds Study To Elimate Garbage Trucks From Roosevelt Island - Seeks to Enhance AVAC System To Accomodate Commercial Waste And Recyclables

 Garbage Outside Riverwalk Building at 425 Main Street

Except for waste produced from commercial establishments and residential recyclables which are removed by garbage trucks, most of Roosevelt Island's garbage is taken away via the underground pneumatic tube system and collected at the AVAC (Automated Vacuum Assisted Collection) Facility.

Image of Roosevelt Island AVAC From Bridge and Tunnel Club

If a NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) funded study is successful, then garbage trucks may be entirely banished from Roosevelt Island because the AVAC Facility will then be able to handle commercial waste and recyclables.

According to News LI:

University Transportation Research Center at CUNY (New York) seeks to enhance Roosevelt Island’s pneumatic garbage transport system (basically a giant, underground vacuum cleaner) so that it can also accommodate recycling and the disposal of commercial waste. If successful, the project could virtually eliminate truck garbage hauling on Roosevelt Island. NYSERDA funding: $50,000

More on Roosevelt Island's underground garbage collection system from previous posts and a video that shows how the AVAC system works, is maintained, occasionally breaks down, gets fixed and the search for items mistakenly thrown away into the tubes.

Nature Abhors a Vacuum from greg whitmore on Vimeo.