Bedford Residents to Get Single-Stream Recycling

The Bedford Town Board approved legislation that will allow residents to get single-stream recycling, the town confirmed, which will allow usage of single containers for different materials. The change is effective Sept. 1 for residential collection.

The board approved the change at its meeting on Tuesday by a unanimous vote after a public hearing and an explanation of the concept, according to a video of the meeting.

“We are very excited about this effort," Supervisor Lee Roberts said at the hearing. "We think that it's really going to make a difference.”

Roberts, speaking at the meeting, noted that the town and Bedford 2020 have been working with local carters to boost recycling and to help with a goal to reduce energy usage by 20 percent by the year 2020. Bedford's current recycling rate is 17 percent, Roberts said at the meeting, adding that recycling went up in communities that adopted the single-stream method.

Carters will also be sending out information to their clients about the change, Roberts said at the meeting.

Energize New York's Mark Thielking was at the meeting and spoke in favor of the proposal during the public hearing. He noted that he has switched to single-stream recycling and it made “a tremendous difference” in practicality. Before the switch, Thielking said at the hearing, he had to rely on bringing some stuff to a recycling center and giving some stuff to a carter.