According to supervisor Ed Romaine and Green Stream Recycling, the Material Recovery Facility has accepted the 100 millionth pound of material for recycling since the beginning of the year. In January, the town implemented its Single Stream recycling program in which residents simply place all of their recyclables into a single container for Wednesday collection. At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5th, the 100 millionth pound of recyclable material passed over the scale and was delivered to the town's recycling center where it was sorted, processed and made ready for recycling.
Brookhaven's Single Stream Recycling program is the largest and most successful effort of its kind on Long Island. Since the start of the Single Stream recycling program in the town, several other municipalities have adopted Single Stream recycling including the villages of Bellport, Mastic Beach, Poquott and the Town of Southold. Many other municipalities are planning to start Single Stream recycling including the Town of Smithtown, which is planning to implement the Single Stream recycling program in January 2015. Even Home Owner Associations (HOA's) are beginning a switch to Single Stream recycling.
"Single Stream recycling is, by far, the easiest and best form of residential recycling," said Romaine. "Residents tell me they love the simplicity and convenience of the new recycling program. Recycling is the one thing that everyone can do to improve the environment. And, the success of the program is a result of many people and organizations working together including residents, collection companies, processors and the Town. I am very proud of the way we have come together to collectively do something which is good for the planet and saves taxpayer dollars."
Once the recyclables are delivered to the recycling center, the job of processing the material belongs to Green Stream Recycling. "Green Stream made a $5.2 million investment and dedicated ourselves to the future of recycling because we see the environmental and economic benefits that recycling provides to the residents of Brookhaven and all of Long Island," said Will Flower, president of Green Stream Recycling, the operator of the recycling center for the Town of Brookhaven. "With the startup of the new operation, Brookhaven now has the most advanced recycling program on Long Island. This new design represents the most innovative single stream recycling technology on Long Island but most important is that we made it easier for residents to recycle. And when recycling is easier and more people participate, our environment benefits and we are all the better for it."
The new Single Stream processing system, dubbed the "Green Stream Machine, "was publically dedicated on June 6, 2014. Between January 2014 and June 2014, while the recycling plant was being built in Brookhaven, all of the Town's Single Stream material was shipped to recycling centers in upstate New York, Connecticut and on Long Island.
At no cost to the taxpayer, the town has become the leader in recycling technology on Long Island thanks to our partnership with Green Stream Recycling," said commissioner Matt Miner of Brookhaven's Department of Waste Management. "The new Single Stream program has made it easier for residents to recycle and the results speak for themselves with a tremendous environmental and economic benefit to the town. I expect the recycling rates to continue rising in 2015 and we are going to be emphasizing our educational outreach programs to promote more recycling among residents."
Just over a year ago (in October 2013), the town board unanimously voted to go forward with a conversion to Single Stream recycling, which had been implemented in several communities throughout New York State and the country. Brookhaven was the first town on Long Island to successfully implement such a program. In addition to the environmental benefits that recycling provides, recycling in the Town of Brookhaven has economic advantages including the sale of recyclables and avoided disposal costs...The Town of Brookhaven is pushing for opportunities to grow the number of municipalities who recycle using the Single Stream program.
"The more we recycle, the more waste we can keep away from incinerators and out of landfills," said Romaine. "Long Island generates in excess of 2 million tons of municipal solid waste each year which is either burned at incinerators on Long Island or trucked off the Island to distant landfills. The lift in recycling rates associated with single stream recycling will permit municipalities to realize significant savings in avoided disposal cost."
Residents can get information about recycling by going to the Town of Brookhaven's web site at www.brookhaven.org or by visiting www.LongIslandRecycles.com. Tags: