The City Council is expected to vote Thursday on a pilot program to install solar canopies over city-owned parking lots — an idea that has been long in the conceptual stage and comes as the city prepares for Earth Day.
New York would have two years to build the canopies, which would cover at least one lot in each of the five boroughs, and would also have to install at least five electric vehicle chargers at each location.
Solar canopies serve a dual function: They produce clean energy, at a time when the city’s supply has generated more greenhouse gas emissions than in decades past; and they help mitigate the urban heat island effect, wherein the city’s built environment traps heat and displaces the natural shade of trees.
After the pilot program, the bill states, the city would have to report on the cost-effectiveness of the installation and suggest options to expand the initiative.
A resolution is also on the agenda, calling on the State Legislature to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, a set of bills that would put more responsibility on manufacturers that make packaging.
According to the resolution, materials like plastic, steel, aluminum, glass containers, cardboard and cartons make up about 30 percent of the waste stream in the United States, and New York City spends $166 million per year to collect and process recyclables.
“Producers have little incentive to design packaging to minimize waste, reduce toxicity, or maximize recyclability, creating a supply chain disconnect with environmentally sound, end-of-life management of these consumer materials,” the resolution states.
Establishing “extended producer responsibility,” or EPR, would force manufacturers to pay part of the ultimate cost of recycling to a third-party organization. The money would then be distributed to local governments to help fund recycling programs.
The Committee on Environmental Protection, Resiliency and Waterfronts will meet with the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management at 11 a.m. for the vote.
The full Council is expected to approve the measures at its scheduled meeting Thursday at 1:30 p.m.