New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway and Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty have announced the expansion of the city’s recycling program.
The program will include the recycling of all rigid plastics, including toys, hangers, shampoo bottles, coffee cups and food containers.
Part of the city's Solid Waste Management Plan, the expansion was made possible, in part, through a collaboration with SIMS Municipal Recycling whose recycling facilities are equipped to handle the wide range of plastic recycling.
The expansion is expected to result in more than 50,000 additional tons of waste annually, ending up in landfills no more.
Commenting on the program, Bloomberg said, "There is no more worrying about confusing numbers on the bottom of the container. This means that 50,000 tons of plastics that we were sending to landfills every year will now be recycled and it will save taxpayers almost $600,000 in export costs each year."
SIMS will transfer plastics that the city was previously unable to recycle, to facilities that can handle a wide range of plastic recycling and will bring its sorting and recycling technology to New York City later in 2013.
