Brookhaven Blazes (Green) Trail with New Recycling Program

Green Stream Recycling’s new Single Stream recycling system, which was first launched in January, has quadrupled the amount of recyclables that can be processed at Brookhaven’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF), officials said Thursday.

 Since January, the town’s recycling rate increased nearly 25 percent, leading to savings of over $287,000 for taxpayers.

“At no cost to the taxpayer, the town has become the leader in recycling technology on Long Island thanks to our partnership with Green Stream Recycling,” Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine said in a news release. “The new Single Stream program has made it easier for residents to recycle and the results speak for themselves with a tremendous environmental and economic benefit to the Town.”

The new recycling system, nicknamed the “Green Stream Machine,” has the capacity to process almost 50 tons of recyclables per hour. The old system could only process approximately 12 to 14 tons per hour.

Several other communities across New York State have also implemented Single Stream recycling, but Brookhaven is the first town on Long Island to successfully implement the program. Green Stream Recycling, the operator of the recycling center for the town, has invested almost $5.2 million in Brookhaven, and for every additional ton recycled, the town is expected to save around $125 through the sale of the material and the avoided disposal cost. 

“Today, Brookhaven has the most advanced recycling program on Long Island,” said Will Flower, president of Green Stream Recycling. “We are going to fundamentally change residential recycling on Long Island. Green Stream is investing in the future of recycling because we see the environmental and economic benefits that recycling provides to the residents of Brookhaven and all of Long Island.”