By Tracy Frisch
Zero Waste Warren County, formed in October 2019, is a project of the Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls (CAAN). Our Zero Waste group has been advocating for Zero Waste infrastructure, programs and policies for the past 6 years, and the County has become more receptive.
In Dec. 2024, DEC awarded Warren County two solid waste matching grants, $20,000 for education and coordination and $99,000 for a food scraps pilot program and the first phase of a composting facility. The County finally received the contract for the first grant, which is being used to purchase a subscription to ReTRAC in order to maintain better data on how much solid waste is collected by private haulers and where it goes for disposal. However, after more than a year, the County has not received the contract for the composting grant. Without a signed contract, no expenditures can be made because DEC wouldn’t reimburse them. Inadequate DEC staffing seems to be responsible for the lack of contract.
There are 12 town transfer stations in the County. Residents can bring their garbage, construction and demolition debris and recyclables to these publicly operated transfer stations. Eight or 10 different categories of recyclables are accepted at each transfer station and residents drop off different types of recyclables in labeled trailers or roll-offs. Three or four years ago, our Zero Waste group discovered that the towns had to pay to “get rid of” their recyclables. Source separated recyclables were mixed on a truck and taken by Waste Management to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted all over again. The town was charged a steep tipping fee (currently $90/ton) which was higher than the tipping fee for garbage disposal!
This irrational system has not yet been overcome, despite some positive changes. In January 2025, the County de-privatized the hauling of waste and recyclables from the town transfer stations, having obtained 3vice, with considerable savings compared to paying a waste corporation for trucking. In providing hauling services, the County also obtains real time waste and cost data about transfer station collections..
Selling recyclables makes so much more sense than paying to “get rid of” recyclables which have significant value! Mills pay good money for uncontaminated recyclables, but in most cases, they must be baled and aggregated into tractor-trailer-sized loads to make the marketable.
Three or four years ago, Warren County embraced the idea of creating a Central Recycling Facility for baling uncontaminated recyclables sorted by residents and collected at the town transfer stations. This facility, which still doesn’t exist, would have space, possibly in dedicated shipping containers, for storing regulation-sized bales of particular recyclables in preparation for pickup.
We estimate that the County’s towns are collectively losing at least a half million dollars annually by not selling their recyclables and paying to get rid of them.
In Jan. 2025, Warren County took over the trucking of solid waste (garbage) and recyclables from the 12 transfer stations. The County purchased 3 new trucks and hired drivers. This service was less costly for the towns than paying the waste company that won the County contract with the lowest bid. Sorted recyclables are no longer co-mingled when they are transported. Taking over trucking also gives the County good up-to-date data on the materials collected and costs. But the recyclables are still not being sold. The County applied twice for an EPA grant for solid waste infrastructure, but was not successful. In 2025, only 16 federal grants were awarded under this program, yet there were more than 300 applicants for these grants.
The challenge before us is to convince the Warren County board of supervisors that an investment in recycling infrastructure will pay for itself in the short-term. The County could start with a pilot project in a building that it could add on to after it demonstrates that selling recyclables is bringing a return and more is possible. Or the County could find an existing building that it already owns or to rent or purchase. The next step for Zero Waste Warren County is to make the case that the County has a lot to gain financially by acting this year.
The County convenes a Working Group on Recycling and Composting monthly. The group consists of interested members of the public (we have a couple seats) and elected officials (supervisors).
To learn more, contact Tracy Frisch, coordinator, Zero Waste Warren County, tracy.frisch@gmail.com
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