City Goes Greener - Expands Recycling and Composting Programs

New York City's will have to add to the blue signs like the one above.Mayor Bloomberg announced today that things like cd cases, plastic cups, hangers and even washed-out yogurt cups can go in the bins.They're what the sanitation department calls rigid plastics.

Eric Goldstein with the Natural Resources Defense Council said there's only a couple things to remember. "Basically if it's not plastic film, like a plastic bag or a dry cleaning bag, and if it's not polystyrene, the white foam material, it should be able to be recycled in the City's new program."

The city's making other changes too, including one that could save money. The Bloomberg administration is bringing composting pilot programs city schools as well as some residential parts of Manhattan and Staten Island.

Goldstein said food and yard waste make up 20 percent of all residential waste, "and if we could find ways to compost them or use them for energy, we'll be saving a lot of money for city taxpayers as opposed to having to ship those food wastes and yard wastes to distant landfills out of state."

He praised the changes, saying they will give the city's solid waste programs a shot of adrenaline in the Mayor's final year in office. Some examples of rigid plastics:

• Yogurt

(doratgold, flickr)

• Clothes Hangers

andrew leahey, flickr)

• Shampoo Bottles

(preetamri, flickr)