Bloomberg's PlaNYC promises more diversion

By Jake Thomas, Resource Recycling

In his State of the City address, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined his priorities for the Big Apple, which include expanding recycling in the city.

In his address, Bloomberg reaffirmed his commitment to previous initiatives directed at greening NYC, "if we're going to be the most innovative city in the world, we also have to be the greenest, because that's how you attract the most forward-looking individuals and companies."

He went on to further outline steps his administration will take to increase recycling as part of PlaNYC, a long-term plan to lessen the city's environmental impact.

"To begin," said Bloomberg, "we'll double the amount of residential waste we divert from landfills by 2017. By taking steps like increasing recycling in schools and streets and expanding our plastics recycling program, we'll reduce our waste disposal costs by $50 million annually and help protect the environment."

The Bloomberg administration is also planning to open two new sites to compost yard waste, expand recycling to include all rigid plastics and increasing the number of recycling receptacles in public spaces to 1,000 by 2014, up from the current 600, reports The New York Times.

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