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Recycling & Composting

Schools, businesses, industries and residents across New York students are making a difference in their communities with programs to reduce waste,New York Recycles Symbol reuse, recycle and composting. With these programs we are saving energy, reducing pollution, conserve resources, saving landfill space and making jobs! Besides these long-range benefits of good environmental stewardship, these programs help provide healthier surroundings for communities.

Solid Waste Management Act of 1988

In the Solid Waste Management Act of 1988, the Legislature established our State Solid Waste Management Policy. The following are the solid waste management priorities in New York State:

(a) first, to reduce the amount of solid waste generated;

(b) second, to reuse material for the purpose for which it was originally intended or to recycle material that cannot be reused;

(c) third, to recover, in an environmentally acceptable manner, energy from solid waste that can not be economically and technically reused or recycled; and

(d) fourth, to dispose of solid waste that is not being reused, recycled or from which energy is not being recovered, by land burial or other methods approved by the department (from New York State Environmental Conservation Law 27-0106.1).

The primary mandate of the Solid Waste Management Act is to reduce the amount of waste destined for landfills and incinerators in New York State. Source separation and recycling programs are fundamental components to the diminishing of the ultimate volume of solid waste requiring disposal. Source separation and recycling play primary roles in meeting this goal. In New York State, municipalities are required to enact local recycling laws under General Municipal Law section 120-aa.

The environmental and public health benefits of recycling materials are substantial. According to the Northeast Recycling Council ("NERC"), an organization whose purpose is to conduct research and educate the public about the environmental and economic benefits of recycling in the Northeast, the benefits include:

  • energy savings;
  • pollution reduction reducing the ultimate volume of waste requiring disposal in landfills and incinerators;
  • fostering an environmental ethic among citizens; and
  • conservation of natural resources.

New York State's recycling program:

  • Paper recycling in New York State saved 6.7 million cubic yards of landfill space;
  • reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 million metric tons of carbon equivalents;
  • saved 231 trillion BTUs of energy;
  • enough to power 2.2 million New York homes; and
  • reduced the need for virgin materials.

Moreover, because forests sequester carbon dioxide, which is a major greenhouse gas, recycling of newsprint and mixed paper reduces the need to cut down trees, and increases carbon sequestration benefits. A copy of NERC's report is available at its website, www.nerc.org/fsheets/ny-factsht.html. See link in the right hand column. Recent reuse and recycling efforts of the DEC have focused on these general areas:

  • State assistance program;
  • educational outreach and technical assistance;
  • beneficial materials use; and
  • promotion of secondary materials markets

NYS Recycling Mandate

Municipalities in New York State are required to enact local recycling laws under General Municipal Law § 120-aa ("GML § 120-aa"). It mandates that all municipalities in the state adopt a local law or ordinance, by no later than September 1, 1992, requiring that solid waste be separated into recyclable, reusable or other components.

To get a copy of your local recycling law, call your County, Town, City or Village Clerk, or e-mail us.

Text of GML 120-aa.

Source separation and segregation of recyclable or reuseable materials.

1. The legislature hereby finds that it is in the public interest, in order to further the purposes of the state policy on solid waste management articulated in section 27-0106 of the environmental conservation law, for a municipality to adopt a local law or ordinance to require the source separation and segregation of recyclable or reuseable materials from solid waste.

2. a. Pursuant to the authority of this section, no later than September first, nineteen hundred ninety-two, a municipality shall adopt such a local law or ordinance to require that solid waste which has been left for collection or which is delivered by the generator of such waste to a solid waste management facility, shall be separated into recyclable, reuseable or other components for which economic markets for alternate uses exist. For purposes of this section, the term "economic markets" refers to instances in which the full avoided costs of proper collection, transportation and disposal of source separated materials are equal to or greater than the cost of collection, transportation and sale of said material less the amount received from the sale of said material.

b. For purposes of this section, "components" shall include paper, glass, metals, plastics, garden and yard waste, and may include other elements of solid waste.

c. Prior to exercising the authority of this section to enact such a local law or ordinance, the municipality shall hold a public hearing relating to its proposed provisions and shall give due consideration to existing source separation, recycling and other resource recovery activities in the area, to the adequacy of markets for separated

materials, and to any additional effort and expense to be incurred by residents in meeting the proposed separation requirements. The authority provided in this section shall be in addition to and without limitation upon the authority vested in municipalities under any other statute.

d. In fulfillment of the provisions of this section a municipality may use public lands or buildings or private lands or buildings, open to the public, upon written consent of the owner, as a recycling center or depot for the storage of recyclable materials. The office of general services and any other agency, authority or commission holding title to lands or buildings in the name of the people of the state shall fully cooperate with any person acting under the authority of this section to establish a recycling program, provided that such use is not inconsistent with the principle purpose of such lands or buildings, subject to local zoning restrictions.

More about Recycling & Composting:

  • Green Schools Challenge - A program to recognize schools that are working towards responsible solid waste management by developing waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting and/or buy recycled products and packaging programs.
  • Composting of Organic Waste - The process occurs naturally and is a critical component to soil health.
  • Local Recycling Coordinator & DEC Recycling Contacts - List of local recycling coordinators and Statewide recycling organizations.
  • Reuse and Recycling - Reuse and recycling of solid waste is second in the order of preference in managing waste materials under our "State Solid Waste Management Policy."
  • Recycling Outreach and Education - Recycling and composting public outreach and education.
  • Other Recyclables - Information on how to recycle more items such as cell phones and batteries.
  • Recycling for Businesses - Information on how businesses can help the environment and save money.
  • Waste Reduction - Focus on the prevention of solid waste generation through changes in products, packaging and purchasing.
  • New York's Bottle Bill - Also known as the Returnable Container Act
  • Buy Recycled! - When you buy recycled, you help "Close the Recycling Loop."
  • Materials Exchanges - Materials exchanges facilitate the exchange of materials or wastes from one party, which has no use for that material, to another party that views the materials as a valuable commodity.