Communities around the U.S. have pioneered approaches to circular economies around waste management that could be brought to Long Island before the Brookhaven Landfill closes in a few years.
The Town of Riverhead hopes to become a model for partnering with nonprofits Long Island Organics Council and Green Inside and Out to launch more municipal drop-off sites for food scraps to be converted into compost.
The New York NAACP joined environmental groups to ask a judge to force the Town of Brookhaven to conduct a full environmental review of a proposed warehouse project ahead of a planned waste transfer station in Yaphank.
The Brookhaven Landfill is expected to begin closing in 2024, and there isn’t the appetite to keep a smaller Babylon facility open after 2031. So, Long Island towns will need to keep talking trash to come up with a plan to work together, the private sectors and communities.