Long Beach switching to dual-stream recycling system in January

Long Beach will switch to dual-stream recycling, starting next week, with separate pickups for paper and glass, plastics and metal, city officials said this week.

The change from single-stream recycling will come with separate weekly pickups of all recyclables in differently sorted bins.

The city is changing its recycling policy with the expiration of its contract at the end of the year. The city paid $2.50 per ton of single-stream recyclables compared to new costs of $90 per ton if the city were to continue single-stream recycling.

Several towns and communities on Long Island have diverted from single-stream recycling amid soaring costs as the market for sales to China bottomed out. China has stopped purchasing recycling materials, such as cardboard and plastics, with the onset of new buying and environmental restrictions.

"Due to global market conditions and changes to our vendor agreement, the City of Long Beach will be switching to dual-stream recycling effective January 4, 2021," city officials announced in a letter this month to residents. "Residents and businesses will now need to separate paper and cardboard from glass, cans and plastic. In addition, citywide residential recycling will no longer take place on just Wednesdays, but will instead be picked up by zones, with each zone being serviced once a week."

The city has set a calendar on its website, longbeachny.gov, and divided the city into zones for each day’s recycling pickup.

Moving from the West End east, residents will be asked to put out both paper and rinsed plastics, glass and cans in separate bins or bundled cardboard, and the city’s sanitation crews will collect recyclables separately in different trucks.

Commercial recycling pickup will still continue six days per week.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.