Dutchess County has just issued a new 10-year solid waste management plan, focused heavily on recycling, for public review.
“Rethinking Waste” is considered a working document that outlines the county’s waste management plan and its three main goals: to decrease solid waste generation, increase reuse and recycling, and minimize the use of landfills for solid waste disposal.
According to the plan, 23 percent, or 58,530 tons, of materials were diverted from the waste stream through recycling in 2010, a percentage similar to the recycling average across the state. “Rethinking Waste” sets a goal of nearly 60 percent, or 152,225 tons, to be recycled by 2021 in Dutchess County.
In outlining the steps needed to reach that goal and create a more sustainable waste system, the plan focuses on educational efforts, recycling and composting promotion, and enforcement of solid waste laws.
“Promotion of composting of yard and food waste, which accounts for approximately 30 percent of our waste stream, as well as promotion of recycling of residential, commercial, institutional, construction and demolition materials has to be a priority in order to minimize waste that is disposed,” the county said in a news release.
County Executive Marc Molinaro added in the news release, “We want to establish Dutchess as a statewide leader in recycling as we seek to more than double our recycling rate over the next 10 years. It is critical that everyone—county government, businesses and residents—commits to the necessary steps to achieve this ambitious, yet achievable goal.”
The “Rethinking Waste” document is available for public review and comment for the next 60 days. The document is available online at: www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/SolidWasteMgmt/SWindex.htm. Copies are also available for review at several locations throughout the county, including the Department of Planning and Development in Poughkeepsie, the Dutchess Resource Recovery Agency in the Town of Poughkeepsie, and the Farm & Home Center in Millbrook. A complete list of locations is available at www.dutchessny.gov.
Comments can be submitted online at www.dutchessny.gov or can be mailed to Lindsay Carille, Division of Solid Waste Management, 27 High St, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.
A public meeting on the plan is scheduled for Feb. 26 at 7pm, at the Farm and Home Center, 2715 Route 44 in Millbrook (inclement weather date is Feb. 28).
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