USA – New Yorks returns to recycling

Full recycling of glass, plastic, metal and paper in New York City will resume this morning after a disruption of almost two years, and if that comes as a surprise, do not be alarmed. Plenty of New Yorkers are unprepared.



The NY Times reports that although the Department of Sanitation put fliers in Sunday newspapers last weekend and has run some advertisements announcing the restoration of glass pickups and the return of weekly collections, environmentalists fear that the city has not done enough to make residents aware of the big changes that are taking place. Advertisement



“We need a turbo-charged public education program that can help revitalize recycling in the city,” said Mark A. Izeman, a senior lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which tried to promote the effort with its own advertisements earlier this year. “But so far, not much has happened.” There are two big changes in the programme. One is that glass jars and bottles can now be placed in the same container as plastic and metal items. They should be rinsed to avoid attracting pests. Paper and cardboard should be bundled separately from the glass, plastic and metal.



The other big change is the return to pickups every week. An easy rule for most residents to remember is that they should continue to put out recycling on the same day on which it has been collected for the last year. The Sanitation Department is hiring 410 extra workers to help handle the new recycling duties. About 135 are in training and will start working in a few weeks. The others will not be on the job until June.



While support for recycling remains high in the city, confusion abounds. Experience has shown that consistency and adequate information are two of the most important factors in a recycling program’s success. But New York’s recycling efforts have never had a surplus of either. The program has undergone many changes since it was begun in the early 1990’s, and each one seemed to add to the confusion. A budget crisis in 2002 led to the greatest disruption when, to cut costs, the city stopped collecting plastic and glass containers altogether. The city resumed collecting plastic last year, but recycling was put on an every-other-week collection schedule. Sanitation officials believe it will now be easier for most residents to remember when to put out recyclables.



“The old schedule was really confusing because people had to check on whether they were on an A-week schedule or a B-week schedule,” said Vito A. Turso, deputy commissioner of the Sanitation Department. “Now the answer is, ‘You’re every week.’ ” Mr. Turso said there was bound to be confusion about what types of glass should be recycled, and what should be thrown out, just as there was before the schedule was changed.



Residents with questions can check the department’s Web site, www.nyc.gov/sanitation, or call 311, the city services hot line. If doubts remain about whether things like broken light bulbs or cracked dishes can be recycled (they cannot), Mr. Turso said, residents should just throw those items in the trash. Putting the wrong items in the recycling container makes it harder to sort and sometimes contaminates a whole batch left for collection. Mistakes about where to put glass will be forgiven for at least 60 days. After that, the city expects New Yorkers to live by the new recycling rules