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

Article II of Chapter 230, adopted in 1990 in response to the City of Auburn's 1989 consent order with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, built Cayuga County's recycling program around three linked duties. Section 230-10 requires source separation, meaning every person or business generating solid waste destined for a disposal facility in the county must separate recyclables from the rest of their trash at the point it's created. Section 230-11 then requires every public and private entity that collects solid waste to provide a recycling opportunity, whether curbside collection or a drop-off facility, so residents and businesses actually have somewhere to put what they've separated.

Section 230-12 backs both duties with a burial ban: recyclable material separated under the article can never be buried at a county solid waste disposal facility, no matter who separated it or how it got there. 'Recyclables' under § 230-9 covers glass jars and bottles, tin cans, aluminum, plastic containers and yard wastes, and the Health Committee can add more categories, such as newspaper, cardboard or scrap metal, after soliciting input from collectors and facility operators and giving at least three months' notice before the new category takes effect.