Lawmakers OK spending $400K for recycling totes
Despite the reservations of some city lawmakers, Kingston will borrow $400,000 to buy additional recycling totes for homes and small businesses as part of an effort to return to dual-stream recycling.
During a meeting Tuesday, the Common Council voted unanimously to authorize the borrowing and the purchase of the recycling totes. Prior to the votes, some members said they were uncomfortable with the cost but felt purchasing the additional totes was the best way forward for
the city. Their comments reflected the nearly hour-anda-half conversation city lawmakers had about the city’s recycling system during a caucus meeting on Monday.
During the caucus, they discussed the possibility of using just the current recycling totes residents already have and asking them to alternate which materials are put into the bins each week. They worried, though, that doing so would be confusing, would lead residents to recycle less, and ultimately would cost residents more money for having to purchase their own bins to
store recyclables that are not being picked up during a particular week.
Alderman Douglas Koop said during the council meeting Tuesday that the issue of purchasing additional totes was a “very, very, very difficult” one for him.
“I have to say I’m uncomfortable with it,” said Koop, D-Ward 2. “It’s hard to vote for this. I’m not happy with $400,000 to pay for it.” He conceded, though, that the city had to do something.
Council Majority Leader Reynolds Scott-Childress, D-Ward 3, said he shared Koop’s concerns but was happy the council thoroughly discussed the issue the previous evening, during the caucus. In the end, he said, buying the additional totes will be the best financial option for Kingston and its residents.
Alderman Patrick O’Reilly, a nonenrolled voter who represents Ward 7, said the council could continue to explore the issue later to possibly find a solution for people who recycle less and might not
want another tote.
Earlier this year, the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency announced it would stop accepting mixed, or commingled, recyclables at the end of this year, prompting Kingston Mayor Steve Noble to ask the Common Council to allow the city to buy the additional totes and return to dual-stream recycling. With dual-stream recycling, paper and cardboard recyclables would be separated from glass, metal and plastic.
The new totes would be a different color than the blue ones currently used and would handle residential paper and cardboard recyclables, Noble said. He said the city would be reimbursed $200,000 through a state Department of Environmental Conservation program.
Under the dual-stream system, the city Department of Public Works would pick up glass, metal and plastic recyclables during the first and third week of each month, and paper and cardboard recyclables during the second and fourth week. Trash would continue to be collected weekly.
Yard waste would be picked up on Fridays, or when the city’s public works crews have time to collect it, the mayor has said. He said money will be added to the 2019 city budget to pay for seasonal labor to help with yard waste collection during peak times.