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What happens when we throw something "away"?
Most of us never think about our waste after we bring it to the curb. The journey may surprise you.
Trash
Trash
Trash generated in Hastings does not go to a landfill. It is incinerated at WIN Waste Westchester, a waste-to-energy plant in Peekskill, NY. ZWAT aims to keep as much material as possible out of the incinerator and send it on to better use.
Hastings' DPW carts both our trash and recycling to the MRF (Material Recovery Facility) in Yonkers, located across the Thruway from Costco and Home Depot.
The County weighs the trash and then carts it to the WIN Waste Westchester in Peekskill. Our Village is billed for trash based on weight. We are not charged for recycling, unless it is contaminated.
Incinerating our trash has enviromental consequences. It generates CO2 and other pollutants. Trucking the trash to the MRF and then to Peekskill creates emissions too. Both incineration and trucking impact air quality, especially for residents near the incinerator. Also, the incinerator uses the Hudson River for cooling, returning excess heat to the river, impacting its ecosystem. For these reasons, the less trash we produce, the better!
Learn your trash schedule and more on Hastings' DPW's homepage.
Important message NYSDEC: NEVER throw a lithium battery into the trash, including vapes. Watch the vid to learn why.
Recycling
Recycling
When our recycling is picked up, it is also carted to the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to a separate bay, sorted by optical scanners and by hand, baled and sold. This photo shows just a tiny bit of what we send to be recycled. You can schedule a tour of recycling operations, if you're curious!
Plastic bags complicate processing and should never be included in your recycling.
The 7 Plastic Resin Codes:
#1 PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Common Uses: Water/soda bottles, clear food containers, peanut butter jars, etc.
Recyclability: Highly recyclable; widely accepted in almost every curbside program.
#2 HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene)
Common Uses: Milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, household cleaner jugs, etc.
Recyclability: Highly recyclable; widely accepted nationwide.
#3 PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Common Uses: Plastic pipes, vinyl siding, blister packs, and shower curtains.
Recyclability: Rarely recyclable; you should still put any #3 food containers in your curbside recycling bin in Westchester County.
#4 LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene)
Common Uses: Bread bags, dry cleaning bags, bubble wrap, and sometimes rigid containers.
Recyclability: Never put film plastic in your curbside bin. Some grocery stores have drop-off bins for LDPE bags.
#5 PP (Polypropylene)
Common Uses: Yogurt tubs, margarine tubs, bottle caps, and takeout containers.
Recyclability: Sometimes recyclable. Put in your curbside recycling bin in Westchester County.
#6 PS (Polystyrene)
Common Uses: Styrofoam cups/packaging, disposable cutlery, and meat trays.
Recyclability: Generally not recyclable, but you should still put in your curbside recycling bin in Westchester County.
#7 Other (Mixed Plastics & Bioplastics)
Common Uses: Large water jugs (5-gallon) and reusable water bottles, multi-layer packaging, and some electronics.
Recyclability: Rarely recyclable due to the mixed material composition. You should still put in curbside recycling bin in Westchester County.
Know what you can and cannot recycle. Review the list here.
Recyclables must be clean. If enough households recycle incorrectly, an entire load can be considered contaminated, rejected, and sent to the incinerator.
Contamination is caused by inclusion of incorrect items and dirty items. Clean out those peanut butter jars and only recycle what's allowed!
Don't "wishcycle" and include something you're not sure about. When in doubt, throw it out.
Our most common contamination is PLASTIC BAGS. Do not bag your recycling. Film plastic gets caught in the sorting machines.
Compost
Compost
Backyard composting is the most sustainable answer for non-edible food scraps. See this example guide to get started. Only raw fruit and vegetable scraps, plus things like paper towels and leaves, go in backyard compost.
For organic materials not suitable for backyard composting, such as meats, fats, food cooked food with oil, etc., or if you don't compost at home, you can drop in Hastings' food scraps drop at the DPW yard, 67 Southside Avenue. These materials then go to Sustainable Materials Management in Cortlandt Manor, which processes them into compost.
Refer to the Village website for what is and what is not acceptable in the food scrap bins (NO plastic packaging or pet waste!!).
You can employ a curbside pick-up service such as Hudson Compost Services if you would rather not deliver scraps yourself. The county is working toward curbside pickup for all.
Learn about our food scraps destination, Sustainable Materials Management.
What about the rest?
What about the rest?
Textiles: see our Textile Recycling Page
Books: see our Book Recycling Page
Household hazardous materials: drop at Valhalla MRF
E-Waste: drop at Valhalla MRF. You can also schedule a curbside pickup for Electronics or Metal with Hastings DPW.
Batteries: drop rechargeable or lithium batteries at Valhalla MRF. You can review more info here: Household & Rechargeable Batteries. Regular (e.g. Duracell AAs) go in regular trash (believe it or not).
Lawn and Garden Waste - how to dispose of leaves, twigs and branches in Hastings
Medical Waste: Sharps (Needles, Syringes and Lancets) - how to handle safely for your family and our DPW employees; Prescription Medications - Westchester County guidelines.
Broken items: Don't throw it out - repair it! - at a Rivertowns Repair Café (see schedule).
Usable items for donation - see our Donating & Recycling page - and start with Hastings' own TILI Garage!
Tennis balls - use the RecycleBalls container at the Hillside Tennis Courts. Recycling tennis balls helps keep millions of them out of landfills and promotes sustainability in sports
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