New York Is the Most Wasteful City in the World

According to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, New York holds the top position in terms of wastefulness when compared to 26 other cities of more than 10 millions inhabitants.

Per capita energy use:

Water use:

Solid waste disposal:

According to University of Toronto civil engineering professor and industrial ecologist (also leader of the research team on this study) Chris Kennedy:

“The New York metropolis has 12 million fewer people than Tokyo, yet it uses more energy in total: the equivalent of one oil supertanker every 1.5 days.”

Kennedy, also explains that some of the differences have to do with the climate of each city (colder cities such as Moscow and New York use more energy for heating) and economic activity:

“Wealthy people consume more stuff and ultimately discard more stuff. The average New Yorker uses 24 times as much energy as a citizen of Kolkata, and produces over 15 times as much solid waste.”