In the latest expansion of its highly-rated recycling program, the Town of Huntington is now collecting recyclable paper, bottles and cans in the commercial areas serviced by municipal pickup in Huntington Village and Huntington Station.

            Mixed office paper, left in clear plastic bags, will be collected along with the bundled cardboard that is already being collected every evening, Monday-Saturday, in those commercial areas. Rinsed-out bottles and cans will be collected in a separate truck on Tuesday and Friday evenings.

            "This new initiative again demonstrates Huntington's leadership in finding ways to preserve the environment," Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said. "These collections will reduce the amount of waste taken to the Town's resource recovery facility and should help contribute to cleaner downtown areas."

            Letters, written in both English and Spanish, were sent today to area businesses. Town Environmental Waste Management Department workers will also visit each of the affected businesses to deliver written materials about the program and recycling stickers and to answer any questions business owners might have. Businesses can also contact the Environmental Waste Management Department at 631-351-3186.

            "By joining in this expanded recycling effort, our local merchants will be helping make Huntington's downtowns even more attractive to shoppers, benefiting themselves even as they are protecting the environment. We expect maximum participation to make this program a big success," Councilman Mark Cuthbertson said.

            "Programs like this one have kept Huntington at the forefront of the recycling movement by sending the message that preserving the environment does not stop once we leave our homes. We need to be ‘thinking green' whether we are at home, at play or at work," Councilwoman Susan Berland said.      

            "Residents have been separating recyclables for years, and last summer, we placed recycling bins at our Town beaches. This is a natural expansion of our continuing efforts to keep Huntington green," Councilman Stuart Besen said.

"We encourage all businesses to participate in this important effort to keep Huntington green. The effort they make to separate their recyclables will pay them back many times over in terms of increased business and holding down taxes by creating less waste," Councilwoman Glenda Jackson said.  

            Huntington has consistently been a recycling leader. Its efforts were recently recognized by the non-profit Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which gave the town a grade of "A=Plus" and the highest numerical score among 12 Long Island towns evaluated for its 2009 Long Island Recycling Report Card.

              The CCE singled Huntington out for dramatically increasing recycling in schools, from 5 schools in 2008 to 42 in 2009; for putting recycling bins at Town beaches; for having a quarterly "school roundtable" where representatives of all nine school districts and from the Town discuss issues and opportunities for coordination; for partnering with Covanta Energy to encourage residents to recycle mercury thermometers; and for printing educational materials in Spanish as well as English.