District Recycling Program Enhanced

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced an agreement with Hempstead’s Sanitary District No. 1 to implement an improved recycling program that will fully comply with New York State law.

In litigation between the State and the District, Nassau County Supreme Court Judge William R. LaMarca ruled in August 2007 that under New York State law all municipalities must adopt ordinances to requiring residents to separate recyclables from trash prior to collection and processing. This “source separation” is intended to achieve the maximum recycling of valuable materials such as paper, plastics, glass, and metal.  Sanitary District No. 1’s original  ordinance did not provide for mandatory source separation.  Instead the District collected and processed mixed refuse at its own refuse processing facility where it was mechanically and manually sorted to reclaim recyclable materials.

As a result of the court decision and discussions with the Attorney General, the District amended its ordinance in July to mandate source separation, and will soon commence a new collection program for source separated materials.  The District will distribute 18,000 new recyclables containers to residents, substitute a recyclables collection for a day of garbage collection, and continue to utilize its existing facility to sort and process source separated recyclables and other materials. New York State believes that source separation is critical to effective recycling in municipalities. The District’s new program is expected to increase the quantity of recyclables recovered from the waste stream, avoid higher disposal costs, and increase revenue from the sale of recovered materials.

“It is our strong belief that the District’s new enhanced recycling program, which will combine homeowner separation of recyclables with the continued operation of our Materials Recovery Facility, will enable the District to achieve the highest recycling rate in New York State.  It is designed to maximize the recovery of revenue-producing materials and minimize the costs to our taxpayers”, said Irving Kaminetsky, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Sanitary District No. 1.