Sanitation Dept. Expands Collection Program
Sorting recycling became much easier last Wednesday, Apr. 24, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced- effective immediately- the city’s recycling program will accept all rigid plastics.
Accepting items like toys, hangers, shampoo bottles and yogurt containers will reduce landfill loads by 50,000 tons a year and save taxpayers nearly $600,000 a year in export costs, according to the city.
Plastic bags and other flimsy plastics, however, are still a no-no, according to officials, because they hamper the electronic sorting process at recycling plants. Though the city has stated coffee cups are now recyclable, that only applies to plastic cups typically used for iced coffee
The move came after hints made during a State of the City speech earlier this year.
According to the city, the expan- sion was possible through a partnership with SIMS Municipal Recycling, whose facilities can handle rigid plastics.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has stated that it supports the expansion, going further to call for recycling styrofoam materials.
Recycling of rigid plastics has nearly tripled since 2007, and the percentage of community recycling programs collecting this material for recycling has increased to over 57 percent today from 40 percent in 2011, according to the ACC.
