Solid waste and recycling on Long Island

Long Island produces about 2.4 million tons of solid waste in a year and recycles about 654,000 tons of it, which works out to a rate of 27.1 percent, according to the most recent data provided by cities and towns. That rate can vary by town. For example, tiny Shelter Island reports recycling 73.4 percent of its solid waste, while the city of Long Beach reports recycling 11.2 percent.

The towns and cities have to report waste and recycling data to the state, and the data in these charts and tables come from the most recent reports, for 2015, except for Babylon, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay and Shelter Island. Those four places last filed reports for 2014 and we used that data here. Obviously towns with larger populations, such as Hempstead or Babylon, will have larger overall numbers than smaller towns. This data, compiled by Newsday reporter Ann Choi, was posted on March 22, 2017. Source: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Tons of recycled and unrecycled waste

Tons of recycled and unrecycled waste in the big towns

And tons of recycled and unrecycled waste in the smaller towns

Because they have smaller populations they produce less waste overall. (Note the different scale from the chart above.)

How much recycling per person

Another way to gauge recycling is to look at the number of pounds of solid waste that are recycled per resident. Here are the figures for Long Island towns (Fishers Island reports separately from Southold Town).


Here are the statistics from the four most recent sets of reports from the cities and towns to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.


2015Recyclable recovered (tons)Waste Streams (tons)TotalRecycled rate
Babylon NA NA NA NA
Brookhaven 78,184.82 171,786.35 249,971.17 31.3%
East Hampton 7,370.93 16,771.15 24,142.08 30.5%
Fisher Island 201.40 396.00 597.40 33.7%
Glen Cove 5,952.05 14,794.83 20,746.88 28.7%
Hempstead 104,861.00 528,561.00 633,422.00 16.6%
Huntington 25,068.20 106,522.00 131,590.20 19.1%
Islip 57,480.00 239,667.00 297,147.00 19.3%
Long Beach 2,449.63 19,407.27 21,856.90 11.2%
North Hempstead NA NA NA NA
Oyster Bay NA NA NA NA
Riverhead 4,753 15,097 19,849.17 23.9%
Shelter Island NA NA NA NA
Smithtown 43,892.24 105,448.67 149,340.91 29.4%
Southampton 3,978.66 5,883.90 9,862.56 40.3%
Southold 13,948.00 11,825.00 25,773.00 54.1%

2014Recyclable recovered (tons)Waste Streams (tons)TotalRecycled rate
Babylon 196,670.00 236,788.00 433,458.00 45.4%
Brookhaven 115,109.61 173,500.70 288,610.31 39.9%
East Hampton 7,803.48 NA NA NA
Fisher Island 315.00 385.00 700.00 45.0%
Glen Cove NA NA NA NA
Hempstead 97,988.00 401,679.00 499,667.00 19.6%
Huntington 36,793.00 109,443.00 146,236.00 25.2%
Islip 57,972.00 226,125.00 284,097.00 20.4%
Long Beach 2,065.69 24,302.88 26,368.57 7.8%
North Hempstead 46,562.01 166,756.00 213,318.01 21.8%
Oyster Bay 58,640.01 116,441.50 175,081.51 33.5%
Riverhead NA NA NA NA
Shelter Island 4,438.64 1,605.15 6,043.79 73.4%
Smithtown39445.3106265.28 145,710.58 27.1%
Southampton 4,121.17 6,953.51 11,074.68 37.2%
Southold 14,510.00 19,037.00 33,547.00 43.3%

2013Recyclable recovered (tons)Waste Streams (tons)TotalRecycled rate
Babylon 71,274.00 237,207.00 308,481.00 23.1%
Brookhaven 88,271.82 172,484.88 260,756.70 33.9%
East Hampton 9,104.13 NA NA NA
Fisher Island 347.00 353.00 700.00 49.6%
Glen Cove 4,627.43 15,191.69 19,819.12 23.3%
Hempstead 125,908.00 461,025.00 586,933.00 21.5%
Huntington 35,966.00 111,841.00 147,807.00 24.3%
Islip 51,378.00 227,185.00 278,563.00 18.4%
Long Beach 16,824.22 24,816.69 41,640.91 40.4%
North Hempstead 63,820.55 188,240.80 252,061.35 25.3%
Oyster Bay 59,184.15 114,809.60 173,993.75 34.0%
Riverhead3711.3916032 19,743.39 18.8%
Shelter Island4566.08 1,792.97 6,316.27 72.3%
Smithtown 34,977.66 105,693.27 140,670.93 24.9%
Southampton NA NA NA  
Southold 14,463.00 18,950.00 33,413.00 43.3%

2009Recyclable recovered (tons)Waste Streams (tons)TotalRecycled rate
Babylon 42,109 237,587.00 279,696.00 15.1%
Brookhaven 85,730 201,820.00 287,550.00 29.8%
East Hampton 7,760 21,822.00 29,582.00 26.2%
Fisher Island NA NA NA NA
Glen Cove 11,408 51,775.00 63,183.00 18.1%
Hempstead 159,816 544,540.00 704,356.00 22.7%
Huntington 40,351 110,841.00 151,192.00 26.7%
Islip 71,757 172,383.00 244,140.00 29.4%
Long Beach 3,064 20,758.00 23,822.00 12.9%
North Hempstead 35,964 135,769.00 171,733.00 20.9%
Oyster Bay 20,085 142,531.00 162,616.00 12.4%
Riverhead 1,835 16,987.00 18,822.00 9.7%
Shelter Island 1,693 995.00 2,688.00 63.0%
Smithtown 34,064 107,727.00 141,791.00 24.0%
Southampton 30,255 5,441.00 35,696.00 84.8%
Southold 12,199 9,979.00 22,178.00 55.0%

The charts above were made via amCharts.com.