Apr. 21, 2008

Next time you head out to one of Westchester County’s recycling events, don’t forget to bring your expired or left-over medications as well as the empty plastic bags that have accumulated from trips to the grocery store and newspaper deliveries.

 A new and expanded recycling effort announced by County Executive Andy Spano has added medications and bags to the list of accepted items at the county’s Household Recycling Days (formerly known as Household Chemical Clean-Up Days) in 2008. Residents have long been encouraged to bring their household chemicals and other waste materials to county-wide collection sites, and extending the invitation to unneeded pharmaceuticals and bags is a logical next step, Spano said.

Westchester’s program to dispose of unwanted medications is the first of its kind in the state. 

 “Proper disposal of these items can make a tremendous positive impact on our environment, which is increasingly cluttered and contaminated by these types of waste,” Spano said. “In Westchester, recycling only starts with paper, glass, metal and plastic. Hopefully other counties and states will see the wisdom of our ways when it comes to the creative reprocessing and disposal of waste and decide to do the same.”

Household Recycling Days are run throughout the summer and fall by the Department of Environmental Facilities. To encourage environmentally friendly habits, residents who bring in more than 20 plastic bags will get a free reusable bag.

Spano recently launched an effort to raise awareness about plastic bags when he proposed a law that would require large retailers to establish in-store collection and recycling programs. However, while many people recognize that plastic bag litter has become an eyesore and environmental hazard, many people may not realize the impacts of discarded medications.

Left-over prescription and over-the-counter medications can be dangerous to have around. Dangers include taking the wrong medicine, mixing medicines that shouldn’t be mixed, or having them fall into the hands of children or teens. Nearly 45 percent of child poisoning cases are due to accidents involving medications.

Pouring medications down the drain or flushing them down the toilet can damage sewer treatment plants or septic systems and end up in nearby lakes, rivers or groundwater. They can pollute our drinking water and harm aquatic life.

Under the county’s new program, any prescription or over-the-counter pills, liquids, ointments and lotions can be brought to a Household Recycling Day. Pet medications will be accepted too. Keep them in the original container or, if the container is no longer available, put them in a sealable plastic bag. Liquid medications should be in their containers and inside sealable plastic bags. Local pharmacists from the Westchester-Rockland Society of Pharmacists will be on hand to accept the medications and ensure that they are disposed of properly.

The county is taking a two-pronged approach to plastic bag recycling. First, Spano’s law, which has been passed by the Board of Legislators, now requires stores larger than 10,000 square feet that provide plastic bags to offer receptacles to customers and collect, transport and recycle all the plastic bags returned. 

 The second part is to encourage recycling throughout the county by inviting residents to bring their bags to Household Recycling Days. Spano noted that plastic bag litter has reached “mammoth proportions.” The average life of a plastic bag is 20 minutes but it can take as long as 500 years to degrade. Given that 100 billion plastic bags are used in the U.S. each year and less than one percent are recycled, this is a major problem.

In addition, the bags are made from polyethylene, a pollutant-generating petroleum product, and as they decompose, they break down into toxic bits that contaminate soil and waterways. The bags also catch on power lines, float on oceans and lakes, clog storm drains, and kill wildlife that may ingest or get entangled in them.

The county will accept “Type 2” and “Type 4” bags (the type of plastic is sometimes printed on the bag). Recyclables include grocery bags, newspaper bags, bread bags, dry cleaning film, packaging for toilet paper and paper towels, retail bags with hard plastic and string handles removed, and bags with sealed air for packaging.

Once collected, the bags will be taken to the county’s recycling center, the Material Recovery Facility in Yonkers (MRF), which will collect the bags to sell to brokers and be passed on to recyclers to be made into other products. Plastic bags can be recycled into durable outdoor decking and low-maintenance fencing.

 Residents can also bring household chemicals such as automotive and flammable fluids and lawn chemicals, as well as batteries, tires, paint, cell phones, small appliances, fluorescent bulbs, mercury thermometers and fire extinguishers.

 For a complete list of acceptable items and the schedule of Household Recycling Days, go to www.westchestergov.com/recycling or call the Household Recycling Day InfoLine at (914) 813-5425. Plastic bags can also be taken to neighborhood E-Waste Days.