New Laws Would Expand City’s Recycling Program

clipped from www.nytimes.com New Laws Would Expand City’s Recycling Program Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, said on Sunday that she would introduce a sweeping expansion of New York City’s recycling laws that would increase plastics recycling, put more bins in public areas and create periodic drop-off locations for hazardous household waste. The legislation is meant to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. If approved, as expected, it will usher in the first major changes to the city’s recycling laws since 1989. “Now, more than 20 years later, we’re finally about to give New York City’s recycling laws a 21st-century upgrade,” Ms. Quinn said at a news conference at City Hall. The new legislation would require the Department of Sanitation to recycle all rigid plastic containers, like those used to hold laundry detergent, motor oil and yogurt. The department would also place 300 recycling bins in public areas in the next three years and 700 within a decade.