An Inter-Municipal Agreement (IMA) has been signed between the Town of Brookhaven, New York and the Suffolk County (New York) Department of Public Works (DPW) to establish a single-stream recycling pilot program in Brookhaven.
Passed at the April 2014 general meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature, Legislator Sarah Anker’s bill authorizes Suffolk County to enter into an IMA with Brookhaven, allowing the town to provide recycling containers to the Yaphank County Center, where it will be collected weekly and brought to the town’s material recovery facility (MRF), located at the Brookhaven Town Landfill site.
The pilot program, which is scheduled to begin in late June, will run for one year. At the completion of the program, the county’s DPW will determine the benefits and the potential for expansion. Brookhaven has more than 485,000 residents, according to the 2010 census.
“Ensuring government is operating as efficiently as possible is paramount to good governing and serving the taxpayers,” says Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “This IMA is yet another example where the county and the Town of Brookhaven have taken the opportunity to share services in an effort to streamline activities and reduce costs. I thank Legislator Sarah Anker for introducing this legislation, and I thank Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine for his continued willingness to work collaboratively with the county.”
Adds Supervisor Romaine, “Getting the county on board is a big step forward in our effort to promote single-stream recycling in Brookhaven and all across Long Island. I thank the county executive and the legislature for recognizing that this pilot program is beneficial to both municipalities and that increased recycling rates are great for the taxpayer, the bottom line and the environment, leading us to a cleaner, greener future for generations to come.”
Will Flower, president of Green Stream Recycling, the town’s MRF operator, says, “Single-stream recycling makes it easier for residents to recycle. The new sorting equipment has proven to be extremely efficient at processing recyclables to produce high-quality material that we are able to market to both domestic and international outlets. Since we started the new recycling system, we have created 16 new jobs at the recycling center and now have a workforce that is more than 40 strong."
The town’s new single-stream recycling system – dubbed the “Green Stream Machine” – is able to process up to 48 tons of recyclables per hour. Since the town’s introduction of its single-stream recycling program in January 2014, the recycling rate has increased by 24.6 percent, according to Brookhaven.
Although single-stream recycling has been implemented in cities throughout New York State and the United States, Brookhaven says it is the first district on Long Island to “successfully implement” a single-stream program. For every additional ton of material it recycles, Brookhaven says it expects to save more than $125 through the sale of the material and the avoided disposal cost.