Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Town and Village of New Paltz – New Paltz Zero Waste Initiative
“New Paltz’s sustainable materials program is proof that cost can be reduced while donations and revenues increase; providing materials and opportunity to build our community.” Laura Petit, Recycling Coordinator
The New Paltz ReUse and Recycling Center is a municipally operated system consisting of four buildings and several accessory buildings. It serves a population of just under 20,000 and employs two full time employees with a part time Waste Reduction Assistant in the ReUse Center. New Paltz stepped up programs in 2016 to reach its zero waste goals by involving the community.
Briar Creek Farm has been a partner and part of the livestock food recovery initiative since 2012. They collect food from several local retailers to supplement what they feed their cows, pigs and chickens. They also take shredded paper collected at the New Paltz recycling center for bedding which is later composted. New Paltz held a “Feed The Hog” – a “used” pumpkin collection that took place right after Halloween for Briarcreek livestock.
March brought new source for commercial food waste and a $20,000 revenue. The Culinary Institute of America composts all food waste and New Paltz staff used it to created beautiful compost which is used by local gardeners.
April has been designated as the annual textile collection month in partnership with the New Paltz Clean Sweep program. In 2015, NYSDEC Regional Director, Martin Brand, attended the first event which began as a partnership in 2014 with Region III NYSDEC and the solid waste local authority in support of the ReClothe-NY program. With the help of volunteers, the clothing collection is now ongoing and 4.39 tons was collected this year for local charities.
May was 14th Annual SUNY New Paltz campus dorm cleanout and Great Community Giveaway. This year seven (7) tons of clothing, food and other items were donated by students. After volunteers collected and sorted everything, the material was delivered to twelve (12) local charities with the remaining items put under tents donated by the United Methodist Church for the public to take.
New Paltz closed the 2016 year by joining Rescuing Leftover Cuisine to pick up food donations from local businesses for drop off at local charities. This was an incredible step to feed our hungry and jump into the long term goals of our zero waste plan. Partners include Sodexo of SUNY New Paltz dining hall, Omega Institute and several local restaurants. To date (January 1, 2017-October), 9,000 pounds of food has been recovered and delivered to pantries and soup kitchens.
The zero waste and food recovery goals could only be achieved with community volunteers. New Paltz has partnered with Food Insecurity Collaborative (Rondout Valley Growers Association, Family of Woodstock and Ulstercorp) as a centralized hub food for gleaned and/or overproduced fresh produce. A Cool Bot® refrigeration shed is almost completed and will be used to store produce until food pantries can pick up.
In total, 162 tons of material was diverted for reuse including aggregate and shredded paper; 84 tons of food and clothing was donated; 237 tons was recycled; and, 1222 tons of organics including food and yard waste was composted or repurposed in 2016.
The New Paltz ReUse and Recycling program diverted 1,428 tons of organics and reusable material from the waste stream reducing disposal costs by $151,915 if all materials were landfilled and supplementing local charities with much needed items.
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