Noble makes his point during the UCRRA hearing held in the county legislature chamber
KINGSTON – Worldwide recycling rules are changing fast, and municipalities in the Hudson Valley are struggling to deal with the sudden impact. Thursday night’s public hearing at the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency underscored the urgency, with several local leaders weighing in on the discussion.
Kingston Mayor Steven Noble urged UCRRA officials to delay a pending resolution eliminating the single-stream recycling program, which the city currently depends on to remove much of its municipal solid waste.
The RRA desires source-separated recyclables, following strict Chinese import regulations enacted in 2017. Customs officials in China now use x-ray scanners and close inspection, rejecting any material contaminated with more than 0.5 percent mismatch.
The new Chinese quantity initiative is called National Sword. As a result, exports of American recyclables backlogged throughout 2018, increasing domestic storage costs. UCRRA spent an extra $124,480 to date this year.
For UCRRA, the simple solution is to stop accepting single-stream recycling and to increase the tipping fees. The proposal enacting both policies starts July 1st, upon approval at the next RRA board meeting on June 27.
Kingston currently uses single-stream recycling. Switching now would render their current system obsolete – totes, trucks, automated robot arms, representing four years of citywide transition and capital outlay.
Noble the decision should not be made in haste.
“I think the board, no offense, has created a crisis and made this seem like a crisis, making it seem like our agency is stockpiling single-stream recycling, making it seem that we have no place to put it, making it seem that there is an emergency happening here in Ulster County and it is just not true,” the mayor said.
Ulster Town Supervisor James Quigley said the local town transfer stations all currently accept source-separated recycled material, and the market should dictate increased fees for single-stream separation costs.
“To deposit the materials in the proper bins, in the proper manner, requires a commitment on the part of the individuals,” Quigley noted. “Other than that, if they want the convenience, as so many individuals in this world want, they should be able to afford it, to pay for it.”
Quigley called for a moratorium on RRA action, but rate hikes must be imposed to cover additional expenses, moving forward.
County Legislators Laura Petit and Manna Jo Greene criticized the original decision to use single-stream in Kingston. Simplicity on the consumer end requires waste to be separated at the facility. Somebody has to manually unscrew all those bottle caps, remove plastic bags, and so on, they said.
“We never should have gone single-stream; that was our first mistake,” Petit said.”
I would have, and I believe we actively did, advise against single stream,” agreed Greene, who also emphasized the importance reducing the waste stream, especially food waste recycling.
Greene also recommended a standing committee to meet on a regular basis. “It can’t be that you just have this public hearing and take an action. Although the agency has a lot of responsibility for this decision, it is going to affect the whole county.”
