New Recycling Changes for Brookhaven Town

Effective Wednesday, November 28th, the Town of Brookhaven will be changing from its current single stream recycling program and returning  to dual stream recycling.  In a notice to residents, the Town announced:

An Important Message About Recycling Changes "Recently the recycling industry, including the Town of Brookhaven, has experienced soiled items within residentially collected recyclables. The increased quantities of soiled items occurred at a time when the requirements for “clean recycling” have become stricter due to new policies in the marketplace. As a result of these market changes, the Town, after much consideration, has decided to return to dual-stream recycling effective November 28, 2018."

 What does this mean for residents? Basically, metal, tin cans and #1 & #2 plastic containers will be picked up one week and paper, cardboard and other fiber products the next week.  Glass bottles and jars will no longer be included in curbside collection.  Instead, there will be glass collection sites at various Town locations for voluntary recycling.  This provides for glass recycling without soiling other recyclables or putting unnecessary wear and tear on recycling equipment.  Other items, such as pizza boxes, soiled paper products and plastic #5 take-out containers from restaurants are not recyclable.

Recyclable Items: Paper Newspaper Copy Paper Magazines Color Inserts

Cardboard Corrugated Non-Corrugated

Plastics #1 and #2 Water / Soda Containers Milk Jugs Detergent Bottles Metals Tin, aluminum and bimetallic cans Aerosol spray cans (empty and caps removed) The Town will be embarking on an aggressive education campaign regarding the changes.  If an item is questionable, a good way to start is for everyone to follow the rule… “when in doubt, leave it out.”