WHITE PLAINS – For the second year in a row, Westchester County had a 50 percent recycling rate in 2017. The national rate is under 35 percent.
Westchester also reduced the amount of residential garbage it disposed of in 2017 by almost 6,000 tons compared to 2016. Since 2005, the county has reduced the amount of residential garbage by 30 percent.
County officials note that reducing waste and recycling are not only good for the environmental, but they also save money. It costs Westchester over $91 to dispose of a ton of garbage, which means the 6,000 tons of reduced waste saved the county over $540,000.
The county also markets and sells the recyclables it collected and in 2017, it generated almost $6 million in revenue from the sale of recyclables.
The top five curb-side recycling rates for local municipalities in 2017 were:
Bedford, 35 percent
Lewisboro, 33 percent
City of Rye, 30 percent
Bronxville, 29 percent
Somers, 29 percent
