D.E.F.

The MRF continues to serve as the cornerstone for recycling efforts for the municipalities in the Refuse Disposal District. The facility processed 68,000 tons of recyclables in 2005. District revenues from the sale of recyclables (80 percent share as per contract agreement) were $4,969,781 in 2005. These sales significantly offset the 2004 MRF Expenditures (excluding capital costs and debt services), which was $3,526,879.

The MRF Education and Conference Center continued to attract visitors. Approximately 3,300 students, teachers, senior citizens, recycling and international visitors toured the MRF in 2005. Professionals and special interest groups used the Conference Center throughout the year for meetings.

In 2005, the D.E.F. Code Enforcement officers conducted a total of 267 inspections. With each inspection landlords of buildings, business owners, residents and school personnel are educated on the Source Separation Law. Through these random inspections, existing recycling programs were improved, updated and/or reconfigured. Warning notices are issued to all residential and commercial facilities found in non-compliance.

Private transfer stations were inspected 32 times and municipal transfer stations 17 times.

Random inspections were continued at all public school districts. The proper segregation of the waste stream, recyclable vs. non-recyclable, saves a significant amount in handling and disposal fees. On average, the County pays $21.37 to manage a ton of recycled material. If the same ton of recyclables was managed as garbage the cost would be $81.21. It is clear that recycling provides both environmental and economic benefits to Westchester County.

Household Chemical Clean-Up Day (HCCD) Program: The County hosts 7 Clean-Up Days a year at four different locations – in the spring at FDR State Park in Yorktown Heights and Westchester Community College in Valhalla, and in the fall at the MRF in Yonkers and Playland Park in Rye. At the events residents deliver household chemicals (like pesticides, swimming pool and septic tank cleaners, turpentine and antifreeze), and various other items worthy of special handling, including cell phones, TVs, computer monitors, mercury containing devices, fluorescent bulbs, rechargeable batteries, and car tires.

Multi-Family Dwelling Recycling Program: Staff met throughout the year with representatives of municipal offices, housing authorities, realty management and resident associations to assist in the implementation and improvement of recycling programs. Upon request, the Recycling Office continued to provide educational handouts, container stickers and presentations on recycling to residents and board members of various housing sites. Literature and container stickers are available in English and Spanish.

Compost Equipment Circulation Program: Started in 1990, this program circulates county-owned and operated composting equipment to municipal composting sites to assist in the management of municipally collected organic yard waste. Most municipalities are unable to independently justify the purchase of this specialized equipment to speed up the composting process, reduce the amount of land space necessary to compost and produce a higher quality end product.

In 2005, the equipment serviced 13 municipalities and processed approximately 98,000 cubic yards (or 17,150 tons) of organic yard waste. If this program and equipment did not exist, it is likely that the yard waste may have ended up at the Charles Point Resource Recovery Facility (CPRRF).

Organic Yard Waste Transfer Station Program: In April 1998, the Westchester County Board of Legislators authorized the county to enter into an Inter-municipal Agreement (IMA) with Refuse Disposal District municipalities who wanted to participate in the Organic Yard Waste Transfer Program. This IMA Program was approved for another 5 year term in 2003 to 2008. Under the IMA, participating municipalities agree to organize, operate and maintain a local transfer site for municipally collected yard waste. The county arranges for the transport of this waste to commercial composting facilities. The program was designed to divert organic waste from incineration at the Charles Point Resource Recovery Facility, increase current recycling rates and provide economic savings to the county and its communities.

The program serviced 21 municipalities (namely Ardsley, Bronxville, Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton, Dobbs Ferry, Greenburgh, Harrison, Larchmont, Mamaroneck Town, Mamaroneck Village, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Ossining Town, Ossining Village, Pelham, Pelham Manor, Port Chester, Rye, Scarsdale and Yonkers) and diverted 111,227 tons of organic yard waste from the solid waste stream.

Used But Usable Clearinghouse and Treasure Hunt Programs: The Treasure Hunt Program continued to operate by telephone and on the county’s website. Approximately 3,100 entries on the website and approximately 2,600 possible matches were made, diverting those articles from the waste stream. The Treasure Hunt phone line received 325 inquiries during 2005.

Freon Recycling: The Department of Environmental Facilities issues stickers to certified companies that extract Freon from cooling or dehumidifying equipment. Once the Freon is removed, these bulk metals can be clearly labeled as “ready for recycling” without fear of expelling CFC’s into the atmosphere. In 2005, 1,400 stickers were issued to certify refrigerant technicians using E.P.A. approved Freon removal equipment.

Business Recycling Program: Enforcement of the Source Separation Law by our Code Enforcement Officers is our best tool at this stage of the program’s development. To that end, our enforcement staff frequently inspects large business complexes. Educational programs continue simultaneously with the aggressive enforcement program, which in reality leads to an education session, as every building found in violation is instructed on how to comply with the law. Each and every one complies.

Public Information Program: As in years past, the Recycling Office continues to promote recycling, reuse and waste reduction practices. The Recycling Office is updating and creating new handouts and promotional material, as well as participating in special events, exhibits and speaking engagements targeted toward a wide variety of audiences (including schools, colleges, businesses, municipal public meetings, multi-family dwellings, and environmental interest groups). Annual campaigns include the promotion of waste reduction, grasscycling and composting and the proper disposal of household chemicals, paint, and tires (in preparation for Household Chemical Clean-Up Days held in the spring and fall). The Office continued to co-sponsor environmental events as in an Earth Day Celebration and Compost Bin Sale Day with the County Parks Department, local civic and environmental interest groups.

Municipal Recycling Officials Program: Designated officials in all 43 municipalities are kept informed of all current solid waste issues and developments through a Recycling Office Newsletter and other correspondence sent monthly. The Recycling Office continues to provide local municipalities with promotional materials and brochures to support local recycling program efforts.

Charles Point Resource Recovery Facility: The waste-to-energy facility, known as the Charles Point Resource Recovery Facility, operated by Wheelabrator Westchester, L.P. (formerly known as Westchester RESCO), incinerates municipally collected and some privately collected waste. The plant has a magnetic separation system that extracts ferrous metals from the ash. During 2005, 13,905 tons of ferrous metal were extracted from the ash and sent to market for recycling.

Refuse Disposal District Advisory Board: This board, composed of 14 volunteers and 4 ex-officio members, advises the Solid Waste Division on any and all solid waste management issues that may occur during the course of the year.

Westchester County Recycling Rate: 41% in 2005. This figure represents a combination of municipal and private solid waste collection programs. See attached summary sheets delineating the various types of recyclables diverted from the waste stream in Westchester County.
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Tire Recycling: The County Department of Environmental Facilities has an aggressive tire recycling program to help eliminate mosquito breeding areas. The county has set up sites in Yorktown, White Plains, Mt. Vernon and Yonkers to serve as year-round reception centers for municipally collected tires. The county in turn markets these waste tires. In 2005, over 40,000 tires were recycled.
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Cathode Ray Tube (C.R.T.'s) Recycling: In an effort to remove cathode ray tubes containing lead from the municipal waste stream, the county, in conjunction with participating municipalities, has established a program that allows for the transportation of this waste from municipal sites to electronic recycling markets. The county provides roll-off containers for municipalities that include CRT’s in their curbside collection program or provide a drop-off site for CRT’s for their residents. When the roll-off container is full, the county then provides for transportation of this waste from the municipal site to market. There are 14 municipalities participating in this program: Briarcliff Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, Eastchester, Greenburgh, Harrison, Mount Kisco, New Rochelle, Ossining Village, Peekskill, Rye, Scarsdale, White Plains, Yonkers and Yorktown. Also included in the CRT collection program are the county’s “Household Chemical Cleanup Days”. The County CRT Program was responsible for diverting over 440 tons of hazardous electronic waste from the municipal waste stream in 2005.
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Cell Phone Recycling Program: The Westchester County Cellular Phone Recycling program was launched on December 9^th 2004 with a press conference held at the Michaelian Office Building, in White Plains. Verizon Wireless has partnered with Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) in our joint-recycling program known as the Westchester County/Verizon Wireless “HopeLine” Program. The “HopeLine” Program encourages residents to dispose of used cellular phones in an environmentally friendly way and at the same time, helps victims of domestic violence. There are now 57 sites in the county that have been designated as cellular phone drop-off locations. Since the program began, over 1,400 phones have been collected at County drop-off locations and were shipped to the Verizon recycling center for processing. HopeLine recycled cell phones to date have raised over $12,500. These funds were donated to the County’s Office for Woman and will be used for domestic violence programs. As a result, these agencies provided over 82 full service phones, each with 3,000 airtime minutes and voice mailboxes. The re-calibrated old cell phones are a life line which allows victims to contact authorities when they are at risk. In 2005 the Verizon HopeLine program awarded a $ 2,500 grant to the Northern Westchester Shelter which is an example of how the phones go to serve the victims of domestic violence in Westchester County.
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School Recycling: One of the major focuses for 2005 has been improving recycling programs in Westchester schools. Schools are inspected to ensure that proper recycling procedures are being followed and that recycling pails and containers are available in a clearly marked and accessible manner. Since the beginning of the program, all Westchester schools have been visited and will continue to be monitored to ensure that recycling programs are present within each school.
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Toner Cartridge Recycling: The data from the County Bureau of Purchase and Supply shows that in a portion of 2004 and all of 2005, there was no income from the U.S. Toner Company, which went bankrupt. The once profitable and very worthwhile program lost $6,000.00 dollars as a result. This loss is now in the hands of the County Law Department. A total of 311 cartridges were traded in for recycling. Only 127 cartridges had any value and that only amounted to $101.00 total. This meant that 184 Cartridges were of no value. In addition, BPS has shifted to purchasing recycled cartridges, which have no recycled value. This program seems to be no longer cost effective, considering the labor and time spent in collection of the cartridges. The gasoline alone must have cost more than the return value for the cartridges.
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Recycling Help Line: The County’s “Recycling Help Line” (813-5420) serves as an informational tool, assisting both residents and businesses by providing accurate answers to questions regarding waste management in general, or recycling in particular. In addition, the “Recycling Help Line” has become a point of contact enabling residents to participate in various county sponsored events such as the Compost Bin Sale Day and Household Chemical Clean-Up Days. Since waste collection programs vary from one municipality to another, the HelpLine assists residents with any questions endemic to their particular locale. It also serves as a contact point for the county’s “Opps!” sticker recycling program, a “one stop” educational program designed to advise residents in the proper management of various categories of waste. The Help Line answers, on average, between 300 and 350 calls per month, and has handled 3,425 calls in 2005.