Wednesday curbside recycling saves money

    Rockville Centre’s curbside recycling of most paper products has the potential to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, according to village officials.
    The Wednesday program now accepts virtually all clean paper and cardboard, including such heavy and high-volume items as old magazines and glossy catalogs as well as junk mail, office papers, food and product packaging, shipping cartons and shredded paper, in addition to newspapers.
    “Trash disposal is a significant expense item in the village budget. Any effort to cut that cost will leave us more money to repair our roads and reduce our taxes,” Mayor Mary Bossart said.
    If all residents took advantage of the Wednesday program, the volume, weight and cost of trash disposal cold be reduced by as much as 20 percent, village officials said.
    “Paper and cardboard items account for thousands of tons of trash a year,” said Village Engineer Paul Pallas. “If we can recycle these materials, we have the potential to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in avoided costs each year.”
    The village has recycled newspapers for decades. Curbside corrugated cardboard recycling began in November 2007 and curbside recycling every Wednesday of most cardboard packaging and paper products began in June 2008.   
    In addition to newspaper recycling, village residents may now recycle kitchen items such as all cardboard food and product packaging: cereal boxes, cookie and cracker boxes, dry food boxes, tissue boxes, other cardboard packaging. (Throw out all waxed, foiled and cellophaned packaging: cereal box liners, juice and beverage containers, chip and cookie bags, frozen food boxes and bags. Paper towels and tissues. Food scraps.)