Cayuga County, NY Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 230-10 makes source separation mandatory for anyone in Cayuga County producing solid waste bound for a disposal facility located in the county. Section 230-11 requires every public and private entity that collects solid waste to provide recycling opportunities to its residential and business customers for all materials that have been source-separated, and section 230-12 bars burying any of those separated recyclables at a county disposal facility. Enforcement runs through section 230-13: haulers may decline to pick up trash that still contains recyclables, but they must label the rejected load with the reason, and disposal facility operators had to file a compliance plan with the Solid Waste Management Department by May 1, 1990, updating the Health Committee whenever the plan changes.

The County can inspect a disposal facility on 24 hours' notice, and the Public Health Director of the Cayuga County Health Department, or a designee, carries out enforcement. Section 230-14 requires facilities to keep annual records of solid waste and recyclables received, and haulers must report the recyclables they collect but never deliver to a county facility by January 20 each year, in a format that matches NYSDEC reporting rules. Section 230-15 lets the Health Committee add materials to the recycling list, such as newspapers, cardboard, tires or construction debris, after soliciting input, and it must designate new materials at least three months before the requirement takes effect.