Narrator: Disney World produces a lot of trash.
More than 15,000 tons per day at Magic Kingdom alone.
But you won't see it anywhere.
The Magic Kingdom has a futuristic system
of hidden tubes like these
that rocket trash out of sight at 60 miles per hour.
Disney's system is top secret, though,
so we went to the only other place in the United States
that handles trash this way and on this scale:
Roosevelt Island, the tiny sliver of land
between Manhattan and Queens in New York City,
has been shooting its trash through tubes
for nearly 50 years.
This was supposed to be the future of garbage.
No more curbside bags, giant trucks, and vermin.
Dozens of European cities have systems like this
built into their infrastructure.
So how did Disney's magical trash tubes
end up on a tiny island in the middle of New York City?
And why hasn't the system taken off in the US?
Pneumatic tubes date back to the early 1800s.
They essentially work like giant vacuums,
using compressed air to move objects from place to place.
Over the following decades, cities across the world
began using tubes to deliver mail,
as well as medical supplies, bank notes,
and at one point, even McDonald's.
But the idea was always to move people,
like in "The Jetsons."
Oh boy.
Narrator: By 1870, Alfred Ely Beach
developed the first subway in New York City
using pneumatic power.
It only traveled the length of a city block
and was more of a proof of concept than anything else.
When Roosevelt Island first opened its doors to residents
in 1975,
developers had a unique opportunity
to experiment with a new kind of waste management.
Previously, the island was home
to a notorious mental health institution,
a smallpox hospital, and a prison.
This penitentiary
is by far the worst in the United States.
Narrator: The island needed an image overhaul
and a solution to trash disposal.
At the time, New York City sanitation workers
were on a nine-day strike.
More than a week went by
with no garbage pickups,
and people were rioting.
The system was inspired
by the one in Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
It was installed just a few years earlier
and is still in use today.
So how do they work?
This is Roosevelt Island's AVAC facility.
Automated vacuum-assisted collection process
is really what it is.
Narrator: Larry Carrick has worked as the island's
senior stationary engineer since 2018.
And there's a lot to look after.
1974, I believe, this was all put in and operational.
This is still functional, for the most part.
So yesterday was a 17-hour workday.
You know, it's part of the job.
Narrator: Every day, about eight tons of trash
run through these tubes.
Eventually, it all gets compressed into these containers.
The city's department of sanitation
sends special trucks to pick them up three times a day,
along with containers filled with recyclables
and bulk items too big for the island's AVAC system.
The trash goes to a transfer station in Queens.
There, it mingles with garbage from the rest of the city
and is sent to landfills or incinerators
that burn trash to make energy.
The AVAC system doesn't solve the issue
of where our trash ends up,
but it does make the process of how it gets there
a whole lot cleaner.
All of this happens out of sight
for the 11,000 people who live on the island.
I've been here for five years.
I found out about two weeks ago.
Narrator: But the AVAC system is far from perfect.
Decades of wear and tear
have left the pipes prone to jams and leaks,
especially when residents don't understand
what the system can handle.
Larry: Anything you can think of, as far as crazy.
Hockey sticks.
Somebody threw a bed frame in there.
A bunch of carpeting, backpacks.
And then I've heard about the infamous mattress
and the infamous drawer.
Goes around.
So it's something to laugh at.
Narrator: Fixing these jams
requires some creative solutions.
Larry: So this basically spins when we have the handle on it,
or a machine, hopefully it grabs into
whatever is the jam
and we're able to pierce through the garbage.
Once we get this in good, we try to rip it out.
Narrator: When it comes to bigger repairs,
someone has to crawl inside.
And these tubes are only 18 inches in diameter.
Larry: If there's a leak on some of the pipe,
we'll have a gentleman
that'll actually climb into this area.
He gets onto a skateboard,
along with some welding equipment,
and he'll end up skating in here
so we can weld up the hole itself.
It's a very simple, intuitive, easy process to use
when it works.
When it doesn't work, it stinks.
Narrator: But despite the occasional breakdown,
many residents prefer it to traditional trash collection.
Judith Birdie moved here in 1977,
two years after it opened to residents.
And as president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society,
she literally wrote the book on it.
Judith: Oh, what a wonderful book.
I think I'll read it.
Narrator: She said she couldn't imagine trash collection
any other way.
There's no way I want a traditional garbage pickup.
I love it that we don't have trash on the street.
You don't see a rat anywhere to be found on this place.
Narrator: In other parts of the world,
AVAC systems have a more modern touch.
In Norway, these different cans
separate trash from recycling.
And in Sweden and Spain, some are even fully automated.
So why can't Americans just stuff their trash down the tube?
The main reason, of course, is money.
Maintaining these systems is complicated and expensive.
Also, private developers
don't really have any incentive
to invest in this kind of infrastructure.
One of the guys who builds these systems
compares it to a sewer line.
Narrator: And installing them is messy,
if not impossible.
It involves tearing down buildings
to lay the pipes below ground.
That's especially tricky in New York City.
Manhattan has a huge complex underground,
things like the subway system, gas lines,
electric pipelines,
that it would be essentially impossible
to implement an AVAC system like the one we have here.
Narrator: But at the Polo Grounds in Harlem,
New York City's Housing Authority is giving it a shot.
Juliette: There's no one-size-fits-all approach.
For dense buildings and for high-rise buildings,
pneumatic collection can really save a lot of room
on the curb.
Narrator: This will be the first time in half a century
that an AVAC system will be installed in the city.
The project will cost an estimated $31 million
and will service 4,000 residents
across four different buildings.
It's expected to be completed by summer 2024.
If the project works, it could serve as a model
for the rest of the city and the country.
A Swedish company called Envac
designed the Roosevelt and Disney systems,
and it's looking to expand its American footprint.
Narrator: Roosevelt Island
might not be the trashless utopia
we were promised decades ago.
But advancements in AVAC could lead us to rethink
how we dispose of our waste
and the infrastructure behind it.
Larry: Someone's got to take the time.
Someone has to have the technology.
Around here, this can't continue.
Someone has to continue to put money into upgrades
and producing positive things.
This type of stuff, you can't really bend it.
I mean, it'll bend a little bit, but,
and that's only because it has a bend in it already.