Brooklyn's newest waste transfer station opened in Gowanus Tuesday, introducing a new facility to take in a portion of the 11,000 tons of garbage New Yorkers produce every day.

Operations Superintendent Sean Brereton keeps the garbage chute running smoothly at the $173 million Hamilton Avenue Transfer Station.

Frontloaders pile the tons of trash into shipping containers, which are then hoisted onto a barge for a trip to New Jersey and are eventually transferred by rail to landfills upstate or in Virginia.

"We're taking trucks off the highway, and that greenhouse and emission reduction is good for everybody in New York City," says Deputy Sanitation Commissioner Jose Atkinson.

The opening of the facility is part of a citywide effort to make trash disposal more environmentally friendly. The effort will eventually include five more marine transfer stations.

The building is pressurized, which keeps odors inside. Any air that does escape is treated with a chemical that keeps it mostly odor-free.