Ready, Get Set, Toss It: Single-Stream Recycling Coming to Greenwich [Video]

Greenwich residents have been put on notice that single-stream recycling becomes de rigeur on Aug. 1.

But just what does that mean? What can you pitch into a recycling can and what is now considered trash?

At last week's Board of Selectmen's meeting, John McKee, superintendent of the town's Holly Hill Transfer Station - more commonly referred to as 'the dump' - gave a show-and-tell presentation of what residents can expect to come next week.

Residents will now be able to pitch all of those yogurt containers, juice cartons, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, plastics that are numbered 1 - 7, even those pesky styrofoam packing peanuts into one container for their garbage hauler to pick up. Gone will be the long Saturday mornings queues of cars waiting to enter Holly Hill to recycle many of those items, McKee said.

The aim of the program is to reduce the amount of trash processed and hauled from Holly Hill, reduce traffic in the Chickahominy neighborhood where the station is located and have the town reduce its costs.

The trade-off, McKee said, is that residents who use private trash haulers will now have one of their twice weekly pickups reserved for recyclables, with the second for trash. Residents should contact their hauler for specific pickup information. He estimated that 80 percent of what has been picked up as trash will now be recycled.

For McKee's explanation, please see video and view the accompanying guide that also was mailed to residents with the property tax bills in June.