Long Beach Changes Recycling Again, Switches To Wednesdays Only

LONG BEACH, NY — After announcing changes to the city's recycling program in December, the City of Long Beach is once again changing the way it handles recycling, and it means residents will have to plan accordingly.

The city is doing away with it's plan to create zones that would have their recycling collected on different days. Instead, starting the week of Jan. 25, all residential recycling will now be picked up on Wednesdays. However, the type of good that gets picked up will alternate by week.

On Jan. 27, the city will only be collecting cardboard and paper. On the following Wednesday, which is Feb. 3, the city will be collecting glass, metal and plastic. The next Wednesday will be paper collection again, and so on.

The city said the zone system was put in place to make switching to dual-stream recycling — in which paper goods are separated from other recyclables — easier for residents and more manageable for the city's sanitation workers. But the city said the system isn't working.

Commercial recycling will still be picked up seven days a week, but the recyclable goods must be separated.

The high-rise buildings along Broadway and Shore Road will have their recyclables picked up every day Monday through Saturday, but they must also separate their goods. Houses along those roads will only have pickup on Wednesdays.

In order to help residents more easily separate their recyclables, the city has ordered additional recycling bins, which it will sell to residents at cost. The city said they are expected to cost about $10.