By the Bronxville Green Committee

May 7, 2025: Over the past month, in honor of Earth Month, the Green Committee has been running a series of articles. 

In this fifth article, we’ll talk about “RECYCLE” – what to do with what you can't refuse, reduce, or reuse.

First off, don’t listen to nay sayers. Recycling works in Westchester! In 2023, the county collected 66,000 tons of recyclable material, which resulted in revenue of just under $4.5 million.

Here are ways to RECYCLE right:

Know your local recycling guidelines

-See Westchester County Quick Recycling Guide 

-Visit the NYS Recycle Right "Recyclopedia" website, which provide curbside trash and recycling guidelines with a searchable tool to confirm how to properly dispose of and recycle over 300 common household items. 

-Don’t “wish cycle.” When in doubt, throw it out!

Properly prepare your recyclables for curbside pick up

-Plastic, metal, and glass containers should be rinsed and dry. Put the plastic top back on. Do NOT put them in plastic bags, keep them loose in bins. 

-Cardboard and paperboard boxes should be empty and flat. Do your best to remove tape, labels, and staples, as well as plastic such as cellophane windows. Trash any contaminated portions, such as the greasy part of the pizza box. 

-Use a recycling bin with a secure lid to prevent items from blowing away or getting wet. If inclement weather is expected the night before pickup day, consider waiting and putting the bin curbside early the following morning. The less wet the better!

Food Waste Recycling: This is not hands-on composting – it’s just another recycling stream in your home that diverts food scraps from the landfill or incinerator so they can be composted by a professional service to create organic, nutrient-rich soil. Composting also reduces emissions of methane gas, which is produced by food scraps in landfills.

There are two food scrap recycling options in Bronxville:

-The Village’s Free Drop-Off Program: This program, financially supported by Westchester County, makes food scrap recycling easy for residents and beneficial to the Village. See HERE for more information on how to join, obtain a kit, and begin dropping off your food scraps.

-Hudson Compost’s Curbside Membership Program: This program is run by a private company that provides weekly curbside pickup of food scraps for a monthly fee. See HERE for more information.

Film Plastic: This kind of plastic, which includes plastic bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, and plastic shrink wrap, does NOT belong in your mixed recycling bin or the trash.  Instead, it should be deposited in collection bins at larger retail stores, including Acme in Bronxville. Products made from film plastic include durable outdoor furniture such as the bench recently installed at the Bronxville Giving Garden. See more information HERE.

Books: Drop your used books at Bronxville’s collection bins located behind Village Hall on Palumbo Place. Books will be donated to literacy programs or sold online by a third party. All types of books are accepted, including hardcovers and paperbacks, textbooks and workbooks. Books that cannot be donated or sold will be properly recycled. 

Hazardous Waste: Electronics, car batteries, refrigerators, A/Cs, and other items, all of which contain toxic material, must be brought to the Hazardous Materials Recovery Facility (H-MRF) in Valhalla for safe dismantling and recycling or disposal. Appointments are required; drop-off is curbside and very easy! See more information HERE.

Medications: Never put them down the drain. It’s best to bring them to the H-MRF for proper disposal or leave them at the Bronxville Police Station; call ahead to make sure they’re still being accepted.

Paint: If the cans are empty or the paint is dried out, they can be included with garbage for curbside pickup. For small amounts of liquid paint left in old cans, add kitty litter to solidify the paint and dispose of the can in the trash. Otherwise, unused paint can be dropped off at local retailers as part of New York State’s Paint Care program. Kawer Paint and Sherwin-Willams are local retailers in this program. Leftover paint can also be taken to the Westchester County H-MRF mentioned above.

Batteries: The Bronxville High School Earth Club is collecting alkaline batteries for recycling during April’s Earth Month. Look for the bin in the foyer of Village Hall. Batteries are collected all year at Staples in Tuckahoe.   

American Flags: Collected all year in the foyer of Village Hall

Yard Waste: Ask your landscaping service where they take yard waste and make sure it’s NOT sent to the Peekskill incinerator.  The Village will pick up yard waste left at the curb, including leaves, and take it to the Eastchester Transfer area at Twin Lakes Park, where it is partially composted before being trucked elsewhere.

With so many opportunities to recycle, we can reduce our waste significantly. The New York State goal is to recycle 85% of our waste by 2033. Working together, we can show the way to a waste-free Bronxville!

We know the issue is big, but some solutions are small and can be found in simple everyday decisions. We don’t have to be perfect, just do better. Click HERE to read the other Waste Free Bronxville articles in this series.

For your calendar: May 17, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. is Bronxville’s TAKE BACK DAY! Start saving your sensitive documents to be shredded and used electronics to be dropped off for recycling. Other household items will be collected for donation. Check back HERE for more specifics on what will be collected as we get closer to the event.

The Bronxville Green Committee is a volunteer organization that is part of the Village of Bronxville. We work to propose and implement environmentally sustainable programs in our community. Visit our website and follow us on Instagram @bxvgreencommittee to learn more.