Long Islanders recycle an average of almost two pounds per person per day, nearly twice the State average, say researchers at the MSRC’s Long Island Waste Reduction and Management Institute (WRMI).
Their findings are detailed in the first two volumes of what will be a six-volume comprehensive report on Long Island recycling habits. The new report, “An Assessment of Recycling on Long Island,” also shows that on a per capita basis, Hempstead Town residents recycle more than anyone else – 955 pounds per person per year.
“Recycling has grown tremendously on Long Island over the past decade,” says WRMI director Larry Swanson, “but we have yet to determine the most realistic recycling goals for Long Island.” Recycling on Long Island has increased from some 25,000 tons in 1986 to over 800,000 tons in 1994, he said. Statewide, New Yorkers recycle at the rate of 1.35 pounds per person per day.
Defining recycling is a thorny task for researchers, Swanson points out, ”but we hope to come up with a more appropriate definition based on the complexities of the waste stream. For example, plastic soda bottles you bring back to the supermarket are not considered recyclables. If you put them in your municipal recycling bin, they are.”
• All 15 Nassau and Suffolk municipalities have mandatory source separation programs that targets newspaper, glass, metal and plastic containers. All but one of the programs also targets corrugated cardboard; and all but one recycle yard wastes.
• East Hampton Town had the highest rate of household recyclables – paper and containers collected at the curb or separated at dropoff centers. Huntington had the best curbside collection, with 241 pounds per person per year. Shelter Island had 1994’s best recycling rate of 45 percent of its waste stream.
• The higher the household income, the greater the efficiency of the curbside collection programs.
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