The New York commercial waste market has long been one of the most challenging in the United States, with increasing public and regulatory pressure in recent years. Lead Editor Cole Rosengren got his start on the trash beat covering the early days of a reform campaign for City Limits, in the spring and fall of 2015, before joining Waste Dive in 2016.

We've run dozens of stories on the twists and turns in the years since, including an in-depth feature on the local market ahead of the New York City Council's historic vote to approve a zone system in October 2019. We've also collected the most important stories, including a feature on the oft-cited Los Angeles franchise system, to help understand what's happened so far.

Most recently, we've been following multiple implementation delays due to the pandemic's economic effects, the announcement of 50 responsive bidders in the first round of a request for proposals, the potential effects of inflation and what comes next after final bids were submitted in July 2022.