MISSION:
This department develops and implements programs and
policies that relate to the collection, transportation and disposal of waste
material within the town. Waste Management is responsible for drafting
legislation and administering local policy and/or State and Federal mandates
relating to solid and liquid waste and is dedicated to protecting the
environment from adverse effects with regard to the improper disposal of waste.
The department manages residential curbside collection of solid waste,
recyclables and yardwaste townwide. It oversees the collection and treatment of
liquid waste at the wastewater treatment plant and the two sewer systems in the
town. It monitors and maintains the closed landfill in East Northport and
observes and monitors waste flow into the Resource Recovery Facility. The
department runs the Recycling Center and Hazardous Household Waste Facility
accept residential waste for recycling or special handling.
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Questions:
Q. How
do I get a new recycling (blue) bin?
A. The Town gave out recycling bins when curbside recycling was
first initiated. If your recycling bin needs to be replaced, you can purchase
any container (32 gallons or less) and affix a recycling sticker to it.
Recycling stickers can be obtained at all Huntington Township Library branches,
at the Recycling Center (641 New York Avenue, Huntington) and in the lobby of
Town Hall (100 Main Street, Huntington).
Q. What do I do with paint cans?
A. Oil based paint cans that have some paint left in
them can be taken to the Recycling Center (641 New York Avenue, Huntington) on
Saturdays between the hours of 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Water or latex-based paint
cans that have paint left in the can should either (a) Leave the lid left off to
allow the paint to dry up, or (b) Be filled with cat litter to absorb any excess
paint. Then place the cans in with your trash for collection.
Q. Are old books recyclable?
A. Paper back & telephone books are recyclable and
can be placed at the curb with other paper recyclables. Hard covered or bound
books are not recyclable and can be put out with your normal
trash.
Q. Where is the Recycling Center?
A. The Recycling Center is located at 641 New York
Avenue, Huntington. The phone number is (631) 427-6377.
Q. Where is the Resident's Drop Off Site?
A. The resident's drop off site is operated by the
Town of Smithtown and is located at 85 Old Northport Road, Kings Park. The site
is shared, like the Resource Recovery Plant, by both Towns. The Drop Off site
will take items like construction & demolition debris, yard waste (excluding
grass clippings), appliances, & recyclables. Please call (631) 269-6600
before dropping off debris at this facility.
Q. What do I do with used propane tanks from the
barbeque?
A. Carters will NOT take a propane
tank left at the curb for removal, even if is empty. To properly dispose of a
used propane tank, DO NOT open the valve to release propane
left in the tank. It is both dangerous and environmentally unsound to do so.
Please bring the tank to the Town's Recycling Center where it may be safely
disposed of.
Q. Who is my carter? When is my yard waste pick-up
day?
A. In order to properly identify your carter and check
on your yard waste collection day, please refer to the map on the back of your
recycling calendar. Calendars are available at local libraries, the Recycling
Center, and in the main lobby at Town Hall.
Q. Does the Town handle calls about wildlife? (Raccoons, squirrels, birds,
etc.)
A. The Town does not handle wildlife problems. We do
not trap or remove wildlife. For advice on questions related to wildlife, you
may contact Volunteers for Wildlife (631) 423-0982 for suggestions on how to
deal with these problems.
Q. Why can't I put out grass clippings for pick-up?
A. According to Huntington Town Code 117-21
(5) "Grass clippings shall not be placed for regularly scheduled collections."
This local law makes it illegal to put bagged or loose grass in trash
cans at the curb for collection with other curbside collected
materials.
Grass clippings quickly decompose and for this reason the Town
recommends that residents adopt the "Just Mow It" program into their
yard maintenance practices. The Town's annual Trash Pick Up and Recycling
Calendar has instructions and tips for this program located above the months of
May and June.
These tips include the recommendation of
growing the lawn to at least three inches high and removing only one inch when
mowing; mowing only when the grass is dry; and leaving the clippings on
your lawn as a natural nitrogen rich fertilizer which will reduce the
need for chemical fertilizers, among other things.
If a resident does choose to bag their law clippings
alternative arrangements have been made. A resident may also take the
bagged grass clippings themselves to the Recycling Center (641 New
York Ave., Huntington) for disposal. A charge of $1.50 per bag will be
collected at the time of drop off.
Q. When do I put out
bulk items for collection?
A. Bulk items include sofas, mattresses, carpeting (4
foot lengths - rolled & tied), dressers, rimless tires, etc. You may place
up to four bulk items at the curb for collection on your second garbage pick-up
day. To dispose of larger items (appliances, water heaters, lawn mowers, etc.)
please contact your carter directly.
Q. Why wasn't my garbage picked up today?
A. Prior to contacting your carter, if you feel your
garbage wasn't picked up, please refer to the regulation in the Trash Pick Up
and Recycling Calendar. If, after reviewing the regulations, please contact the
Sanitation Hotline (631) 754-4990 for additional assistance.
Q. Why aren't there more yardwaste weeks? Why wasn't my yardwaste collected
on the scheduled day?
A. The contract for residential pick-ups in the Town
of Huntington requires 48 yard waste pick-ups per year. Yard waste pick-ups
are scheduled for every other week on average, until the early Spring and the
Fall. At those peak times, yard waste pick-ups are scheduled for every week. In
some areas, yard waste pick-up can be very heavy. In the event your yard waste
is not collected on the scheduled date, the carter will make every effort to
collect it as soon after that day as possible.
Q.
What happens to my recyclables after they are picked up?
A. After your recyclables are picked up at the curb, they are taken to a
private recycling facility. If it's
bottle and can day, the commingled bottles, cans and plastic containers are
loaded onto a conveyor belt for sorting.
First, all "tin" cans
are pulled off the conveyor by a magnet (Departmental note: what we commonly
call tin cans are not tin at all but are actually steel cans which are lined
with a thin layer of tin to prevent rust. The steel cans are magnetic and
collected by the magnet). These
cans are put into a machine called a baler where they are crushed down and
formed into a rectangle about twice the size of a bale of hay. The bales are then shipped to a smelting
plant in Pennsylvania where they are melted down and formed into new
cans.
Next, all of the
pieces of broken glass fall through a screen. The broken glass is the crushed so it is
all the same size, about the size of a dime, and it is mixed with asphalt to
make new roads. The remaining whole
glass jars and bottles are hand sorted by color: clear, green and brown. The sorted glass is then shipped to
glass manufacturing plants in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.
Here, the bottles and
jars are crushed into little pieces about the size of a pebble. These pebble like pieces of glass are
called cullet. The cullet is melted
down at 2,600 degrees and formed into new bottles and
jars.
During the formation
of a new glass bottle or jar, it is very important not to have any
"contaminants" in the mix. Even the
smallest piece of ceramic, mirror or pottery can cause a bottle to crack or
bubble, rendering it useless.
Plastic is the next
material to be picked off the conveyor belt. Each type of plastic is hand sorted by
the number stamped into the container with the three chasing recycling arrows
around it. These are called resin
codes, and they start with 1 and go through 7.
Any container without
an imprinted resin code is considered a contaminant and is thrown away. All of the plastic that is not
considered a contaminant is shipped to plastic recyclers here on Long
Island. Like the other materials,
the plastic is melted down and formed into a variety of things such as: plastic
lumber, carpet backing, fiber fill for winter jackets, desk accessories or new
soda, milk or detergent bottles.
Aluminum cans and fill
don't stick to a magnet, and they are the last material left on the conveyor
belt. An "eddy current, which is
sort of like a magnet in reverse, pops them off the conveyor. The aluminum cans and foil are baled
separately and then shipped to an aluminum recycling company in Kentucky where
the foil is melted down and made into new foil, and the cans are made into new
cans.
If it is "paper day",
your commingled newspaper, junk mail, magazines, regular cardboard and
corrugated cardboard are all hand separated into three categories. Both types of cardboard and the brown
paper shopping bags are put into one pile and are baled. These bales are shipped overseas to a
cardboard recycling plant in Spain.
Here the bales are ground up with water in a process called pulping, and
reformed into new cardboard.
All magazines and
glossy paper are put into another pile and put through the baler. Newspaper and junk mail are put into the
last pile and are also baled. Both
the newspaper and magazine bales are shipped by railroad to a paper mill in
Canada.
At the mill, the paper
is put through a de-inking process that removes all the pigment from the
paper. Then, like the cardboard, it
is ground up with water into a mix that looks like cake batter, then reformed
into new paper. If there are any
contaminants such as glass or metal in the mix, it can cause the equipment to
malfunction, or create black spots and streaks in the paper.
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