Reducing the amount of municipal solid waste destined for
landfills is a top priority in New York State. Municipal Solid
Waste is composed primarily of residential waste, or the waste
that you and I discard daily. It does not include industrial,
hazardous or construction waste. The main sources of our
municipal solid waste are from papers, yard trimmings, food
scraps, plastics, and to a lesser extent rubber, leather and
textiles, metals, glass, wood, and other sources. Why Reduce
Waste: In 1988, the New York State Legislature adopted the Solid
Waste Management Act and in it established our State Solid Waste
Management Policy. The following are the solid waste management
priorities in New York State: - First, to reduce the amount of
solid waste generated; - Second, to reuse material for the
purpose for which it was originally intended or to recycle
material that cannot be reused; - Third, to recover, in an
environmentally acceptable manner, energy from solid waste that
cannot be economically and technically re