Controversial waste management company awarded NYC contracts despite hundreds of violations
A controversial waste management company that has racked up hundreds of violations and is being investigated in at least one fatal car crash is still being allowed to operate in the city.
Cogent Waste Solutions has been embroiled in multiple lawsuits since 2021 for alleged recklessness of its drivers, overcharging customers, falsifying records and failing to disclose required personnel details.
“We should be looking in the first instance why we are giving licenses … to folks who are engaging in this reckless behavior,” Councilman Shaun Abreu said to officials from the city’s Sanitation Department and NYC Business Integrity Commission on Monday.
In the Big Apple, the private waste carting industry picks up trash from over 100,000 businesses.
But over the years their practices have raised concerns about public safety, harmful environmental impacts and poor customer service.
In 2019, the council established 20 commercial waste zones in which designated carters are authorized to operate and are expected to meet strict standards for safety, customer service and labor conditions.
Earlier this year, Cogent were one of 18 carters chosen for prized contracts to continue collecting waste from city businesses and will operate in Brooklyn East, Brooklyn North, Brooklyn South and Staten Island.
The program will begin with a single Queens zone in the fall — none of the zones where Cogent will operate has a start date as yet.
Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso, who helped design the commercial waste reform bill, was furious that Cogent was even considered for a contract.
“That we would put this legislation forward – specifically to address Cogent – and that they would get a contract is beyond me,” Reynoso snapped at officials during Monday’s hearing.
Earlier this year, a Cogent driver allegedly made an illegal U-turn and fatally struck the driver of a Mercedes in southern Brooklyn. An investigation into the matter is still ongoing.
Cogent truck drivers have also been involved in six crashes in the last two years, killing one person and injuring four others, according to federal records obtained by streetsblog.
The company has also been sued multiple times since 2021 for alleged recklessness of its drivers, the publication noted.
Cogent has been accused of overcharging customers in close to 5,000 instances from March 2020 through December 2022, according to claims in a December complaint document obtained by Crains.
The overcharges allegedly add up to $193,000 and the BIC is seeking close to $48 million in damages.
So far Cogent has settled $500,000 with BIC – the largest sum paid for a violation to the commission.
DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch stressed that officials’ hands are tied pending investigation into the breaches.
She added that new legislation does however affords the department “a lot of regulatory authority.
“And I’m not afraid to use it,” she said.
Among the waste zone program rules, DSNY is allowed to terminate any hauler’s contract if its employees are implicated in criminal offenses or if the BIC revokes its license.
“I submit to you, and every carter listening, that crashes where they are found at fault and a pattern of them will constitute material breach in this program,” Tisch added.
DSNY also noted the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee operations of Cogent – former NYPD Internal Affairs Deputy Commissioner Walter Mack.
Cogent also appear to have partnered with New York Recycling Solutions, streetsblog reported.
NYRS will operate in Midtown South and Lower Manhattan zones.
Mack will have the authority to investigate that both companies stay in compliance with federal, state and local laws.
A spokesperson for Cogent told The Post it “was awarded this contract through a thoughtful, competitive review process and we are dedicated to providing safe and reliable service with integrity.”
“Cogent is an innovative New York company, born and raised in Brooklyn, that provides meaningful employment to over two hundred unionized New Yorkers.
“We maintain the most rigorous safety standards in the industry, using new equipment operated by qualified union employees under the supervision of highly-trained, certified safety professionals and 24-hour video and GPS surveillance,” the company rep said.
“As partners in the Commercial Waste Zones program with the City of New York and DSNY, we will work productively with the City-appointed monitor to meet our collective goals: keeping the City’s streets clean and safe.”
