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

Local Law No. 2 of 1989, the Orange County Solid Waste Management Law, set up the county's first mandatory recycling program. Section II states its purpose plainly: separating recyclable and reusable components at the point where solid waste originates, whether a home, a business, or an industrial site, and placing that separation duty on the owner, occupant or user of the property. Section VII lists five recyclable components: paper products, glass, plastics, metal and yard wastes, but a category only becomes mandatory once the Commissioner of Public Works finds an economic market exists for it and publishes that finding with 30 days' notice in the county's official newspapers.

The Commissioner can also break a category into subcomponents, splitting colored paper from newsprint and cardboard, colored glass, plastics not already covered by the state's Returnable Container Act, and "white goods," again only after finding a market for the narrower category. Local Law No. 10 of 1992 folded lead-acid batteries into the program directly: since December 4, 1993 it has been unlawful to dispose of a lead-acid battery generated in the county anywhere except a DEC-permitted Solid Waste Management Facility or a permitted battery recycler or hauler, a condition tied to the county landfill's own state operating permit.

Section VI backs the recycling requirement with a companion duty to separate recyclables before the waste is left for collection, hauled, or dropped at a county facility, so the mandate reaches households, haulers and the facilities themselves at every stage.