Westchester County officials are cracking down on businesses violating the county recycling law while educating property managers on recycling practices for apartment and commercial buildings.
Effective last December, the county”™s amended source separation law requires all businesses to separate paper and cardboard, glass, metal, plastic and beverage containers. Inspectors for the first four months of this year issued 150 violations to businesses for throwing out recyclables mixed in with their trash. At that pace, county enforcement actions this year will increase 225 percent from 2008, when 200 violations were issued.
County officials said many of the violators are repeat offenders. First-time violators face a penalty ranging from a warning to a $100 fine. Second-time violators can be fined up to $500, third-time violators up to $750 and fourth-time violators up to $1,000.
The overall county recycling rate climbed to 46 percent in 2008, compared to 23 percent in 1992, when the county adopted its recycling law. However, multi-tenant commercial and residential buildings, restaurants and gas stations have trailed efforts by residents that have raised the municipal recycling rate in Westchester.
“The same rules that apply to residents also apply to businesses,” said County Executive Andrew J. Spano. “This includes schools, hospitals, pizza parlors and restaurants, organizations ”“ everyone. If you recycle at home, recycle at work.”
To maximize business recycling, the county last year offered free workshops for private haulers and municipalities to update their recycling knowledge and improve recycling practices. About 50 representatives of property management companies attended seminars at the county recycling center in Yonkers to review proper practices for multi-tenant residential and commercial buildings. “Unique challenges” to recycling in those buildings can be overcome when tenants and maintenance staff are educated, county officials said.
