The Recycling Partnership awards grant to Cohoes, New York

The city of Cohoes, New York, is rolling out a recycling program with the distribution of 4,500 recycling carts in early November and a yearlong recycling education campaign.

Developed in collaboration with The Recycling Partnership and a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the program is part of the city’s “Cleaner Greener Cohoes” initiative.

“Successfully expanding recycling in Cohoes is a team effort,” Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler says. “Residents across the city have already responded enthusiastically to the news they will be getting a new cart. Staff across city departments are pitching in to create a robust program, with enthusiastic expert guidance from The Recycling Partnership. None of this would be financially feasible for a working-class community like Cohoes without essential funding and guidance from The Recycling Partnership and the initial DEC cart grant required to help us launch this effort.”

The city says it will receive 4,500 65-gallon lidded recycling carts on wheels, replacing the small 14-gallon open bins residents currently use. The carts will be delivered to households across the city and will come with an information packet on what does and does not get recycled, along with a list of frequently asked questions. Recycling information also is available on the city’s website.

Each recycling cart will be assigned to an address and can be identified using an identification tag.

“We are working to make it easier for Cohoes residents to properly recycle materials because it is good for the environment, it will help beautify the city and it will save taxpayers money,” says Joe Seman- Graves, Cohoes’ city planner. “Our ‘know where to throw’ education campaign will be an important part of this project because the more recyclables people put into their carts rather than into the trash, the better off we all will be.”

The city says the purchase of the 4,500 new carts costs $260,000 and is being funded, in part, by a $130,000 grant from the New York State DEC. The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, also awarded Cohoes up to $125,000 in technical support, a $63,000 grant to help fund the purchase of a new collection truck and $9,000 to fund outreach and education materials.

“We are thrilled Cohoes is the first city in New York state to benefit from our curbside recycling granting initiatives,” says Chris Coady, director of community programs at The Recycling Partnership. “The transition to a cart-based curbside recycling program will make the city’s program more efficient, resilient and sustainable, capturing 2.2 million pounds of valuable recyclables.”