Green Stream Recycling: Changing the Recycling Process on Long Island

Created to re-build the recycling infrastructure on Long Island, Green Stream Recycling is committed to revamping and educating townships in their region.

A new company formed less than a year ago in the waste and recycling world, Green Stream Recycling (Brookhaven, NY) and it is a joint venture between Sean and Joe Winters of Winters Bros. Waste Systems and Anthony Core of Omni Recycling. Together, these two companies have teamed up to create a firm that will forever change recycling on Long Island. “We decided to partner on this project after we reviewed a NYS-DEC recycling report that indicated that Long Island’s recycling rates were significantly lagging behind the national average,” said Joe Winters.  “We believed that the root cause of the problem was that the infrastructure to process recyclables on Long Island was lacking.  We knew we could work together and invest the capital necessary to create a recycling plant that would allow recycling rates to flourish on Long Island.”

Green Stream Recycling is focused on processing recyclable material and assisting communities who are interested in improving their recycling programs. The company currently serves Long Island, NY (Nassau and Suffolk Counties)—a combined population of about 2.9 million people. Selling commodities to both domestic and international markets, the company has access to multiple end markets for our municipal customers as they work to turn what once was solid waste into reusable and valuable commodities.

Part of a Growing Economy

Green Stream Recycling has been fortunate to be part of the growth of the economy on Long Island. “The past year has been a wild ride,” says the company’s President, Will Flower. “In less than 12 months, we formed the company, created a long term partnership with the largest Township in the State of New York, constructed a state-of-the-art-recycling program and launched a brand new single-stream program that resulted in a 24.6 percent increase in recycling.”

In 2014 the Town of Brookhaven, NY (population 490,000) became the first municipality to introduce single-stream recycling on Long Island. Green Stream Recycling planned, designed and constructed a new, state-of-the-art recycling system in Brookhaven’s material recycling facility, which resulted in more than 50 construction jobs during building process and now employs 40 full-time workers. The new system replaces a system that was installed in 1991. Previously, residents sorted recyclables and bagged newspaper and cardboard.  Municipal collection vehicles then collected the recyclable material on separate weeks – comingled one week and newspaper and cardboard the next.  Material was then delivered to the recycling center where the material was sorted. Now, all the single stream are collected weekly and delivered to the Green Stream Recycling facility in Brookhaven where the material is screened, separated and prepared for recycling—to be used again as a raw material.  “I think the main reason we saw a big uptick in recycling rates was that we made it much easier for people to recycle,” said Flower.  “Residents love the single stream system and they are doing their part to increase recycling within the Town.”

The new recycling technology makes the Brookhaven recycling center the most sophisticated recycling facility on Long Island. The facility’s technology offers unparalleled advantages to residents and municipalities. Specifically, the Green Stream Recycling processing system will allow municipalities to use the most effective new collection systems called “single stream” recycling in which residents can place all their recyclable material into a single container for recycling. The single-stream collection and processing system is unique on Long Island and promises to revolutionize curbside recycling programs. “In just five months, we have seen recycling rates increase 24.6 percent resulting in a tremendous environmental and economic benefit to the Town,” said Brookhaven Township Supervisor Ed Romaine.  “We have realized greater participation rates, more recyclables being collected and less recyclables getting tossed into the trash. We want to see recycling continue to grow in the Town of Brookhaven.”

The innovative recycling technology includes variable speed and adjustable angle screens, optical scanners and other technologies allowing commingled materials to be sorted faster, more efficiently, and with greater precision than other recycling plants. Coupled with an integrated and aggressive glass cleaning system, the facility has the capability of producing high quality primary grades of recyclables. The new system has the capacity to process up to 48 tons per hour of cardboard, newspaper, office paper, aluminum, plastic, glass and more. The old system only had the capacity to process about 12 to 15 tons per hour.  Says Flower, “Green Stream Recycling is at the forefront of the recycling revolution. The upgrades to the Brookhaven recycling plant allows the processing of single-stream recyclables in a manner that is more efficient, produces higher quality grades, and mechanically sorts and cleans glass, all while reducing overall residuals.  The facility offers unparalleled processing capabilities to the region while producing high quality products for manufacturers.”

In addition to the environmental benefits that recycling provides, recycling in the Town of Brookhaven has economic benefits. “Switching to single stream recycling was a bold move that has paid off for the Town, the residents and, most importantly, the environment,” said Anthony Core, one of the owners of Green Stream Recycling. For every additional ton of material recycled, the Town is expected to save in excess of $125 per ton including the avoided disposal cost. The Town is working to further increase revenue by accepting recyclables from other municipalities on Long Island, which want to improve their recycling efforts. Right now, Green Stream Recycling has invested almost $5.2 million in the Brookhaven project and is planning additional improvements to recycle even more material in the future. “We are going to fundamentally change residential recycling on Long Island,” says Flower. “For starters we needed to make recycling easy for residents. As we move ahead, we need continuing educational efforts for residents and stronger markets for the material we process. Green Stream Recycling 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.”

“I am proud that the Town is the first on Long Island to successfully implement single stream recycling. Residents have told me that the new program is easier and more environmentally friendly,” said Joe Winters, partner and co-owner of Green Stream Recycling. “Recycling on Long Island needed a boost and the Town of Brookhaven provided the opportunity for us to build a new recycling plant that was critical in the growth of recycling on Long Island.  This new design represents the most innovative single-stream recycling technology on Long Island. The best thing about our ‘Green Stream machine’ is that it makes it easier than ever for residents to recycle. And when recycling becomes even easier, our environment benefits and we are all the better for it.”

Educational and Outreach Programs

Even though designing and constructing the single-stream processing plant within six months was a real challenge, Green Stream Recycling had a great team of venders and contractors who all pulled together to make the project a success. And Flower believes that as the economy continues to improve, his expectation is that we will see an increase in the amount of material that is separated for recycling.

However, in order to stay ahead of the curve, the Town of Brookhaven and Green Stream Recycling are constantly working on educational and outreach programs to improve both the quantity and quality of recycling on Long Island. “The Town of Brookhaven has been the biggest cheerleader for more recycling,” said Flower.  “The Town developed some creative educational programs to promote recycling within the town.” One educational effort engaged students in elementary to paint murals on 55 gallon drums which were then placed in parks. Each painting promoted recycling.  Another program engaged high school students to create public service announcements which aired on local government access channels. The Town also used traditional educational outreach efforts including direct mail, advertisements and flyers.

Exploring New Designs

2014 marks the 30th year Flower has been in the industry and he expresses that there have always been challenges—and with those challenges come opportunities. “I think the biggest challenges and opportunities for MRF operators involve the sale of commodities.  The successful companies are those that produce quality materials. There are too many recycling facilities that are not focused on quality of the commodities they are selling.  Going forward, mills will continue to get more selective which presents opportunities for those operations that are focused on the production of good quality material.”

For now, Green Stream Recycling is already exploring a new design including new optical scanners allowing commingled materials to be sorted faster, more efficiently and with greater precision. They are also looking into the expansion of markets for glass and other hard-to-market materials. “There is still more work to be done,” says Flower. “We want to see more people recycle. And, we want children to do more. We are still working with the Town of Brookhaven to test new recycling programs at schools.”

For more information on Green Stream Recycling, call (631) 566-4366, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.greenstreamLI.com or www.longislandrecycles.com.