NYC sanitation workers recover Brooklyn resident's lost heirloom rings from trash

SOCIETY NYC sanitation workers recover Brooklyn resident's lost heirloom rings from trash By Eyewitness News Monday, August 10, 2026 7:48PM On social media, a sanitation department spokesperson said the workers were happy to help out. NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A Brooklyn resident nearly lost a pair of irreplaceable family heirloom rings after they were accidentally thrown out with the trash, but New York City sanitation workers helped track them down.

The rings had been tossed into a compacting system at a large residential building before the resident realized what had happened.

The resident met sanitation workers at the curb on Tuesday, July 28, and the workers called their supervisor to arrange a search. The truck was isolated and its contents were dumped out so the missing rings could be found.

Finding something that small among a truckload of garbage was no easy task. A sanitation truck can hold up to 20,000 pounds of trash, according to the Department of Sanitation.

But this search had a happy ending: the rings were recovered.

"It isn't exactly a needle in a haystack, but some accidentally discarded rings were dug up!" NYC Sanitation wrote on social media. "We love a success story!"

The department says anyone who realizes they accidentally threw away something valuable should call 311 as soon as possible. Once a truck has dumped its load at a transfer station, the trash is quickly mixed with garbage from other trucks, making the lost item impossible to recover.