"Trash juice, the viscous concoction brewed by the contents of every truck, and its habit of spraying out of bags as they’re compacted, is a major theme..."

"... at the Department of Sanitation’s Ronald F. DiCarlo Training Academy, where I have unofficially joined New York’s Strongest for two days to try and learn how to collect, sort, and dump the 12,000 tons of trash the city produces on a daily basis. 'In New York City, nobody finishes a cup of coffee,'” our instructor, Sergio Serrano, a spirited DSNY veteran with a bushy beard that I assume is full of knowledge, tells us. 'You will know the flavor of the month and come to hate the flavor of the month.' To emphasize the point, Joe O’Hare, another instructor who works at the same garage, shouts, 'Pumpkin spice latte!'...The job can be about as gross as you might imagine. Instructors rattle off the most repulsive things they’ve encountered on their routes — a pig’s head, an entire lamb, 'disco rice,' which is a deceptively appetizing name for maggots — with bravado. But it’s also a union job and a clear path to a middle-class life in the city. The starting salary is $40,622, which more than doubles after five and a half years on the job. There’s a pension, and opportunities for overtime and growth. Trainers told me that the hardest part of the job was the schedule, which can be erratic in early years and difficult to maintain with a family, but everyone seemed relieved to be there...."

From "I Went to Trash School/An education in 'juice,' how to protect your shins, and keeping 12,000 daily tons of garbage at bay" by Clio Chang (NY Magazine).