Warren County, New York
Zero Waste in Local News
Warren County Recycling News in the Glens Falls Post Star
December 26, 2025
County highlights success of new trash, recycling program
LAKE GEORGE – Warren County this week shared some positive news regarding the first year of its trash and recycling collaboration, which has reportedly saved towns between $175,000 and $200,000 countywide.
Earlier this year, Warren County assumed responsibility for the hauling of solid waste and recyclables from community transfer stations to the WIN Waste Innovations incinerator in Hudson Falls and a recycling facility in Washington County.
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The county’s trucks and drivers replaced for-profit private haulers that charged the towns individually to take away their refuse and recyclables, the county explained.
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Warren County’s solid waste and recycling compliance coordinator, Scott Royael, noted the benefits. ““Through our program, we can charge about half the rate the private haulers were charging,” Royael said. “Our goal is for the county to break even and save money for the towns to provide this service for residents.”
All towns in the county except for Lake George opted in to the arrangement. The county vehicle hauling runs peaked in July with an average of 164 trips to and from transfer stations around the county during the busy summer tourism season, the county’s announcement said. The program was developed in 2024 by the Warren County Department of Public Works and the Warren County Board of Supervisors, and began last January.
In the county’s announcement, Royael said one of the benefits to the program has been getting accurate data about the amount of materials being collected at town transfer stations, and being able to compare municipalities and the processes they use, which has provided opportunities to work with transfer station staff to make their operations more efficient and maximize trips to transfer stations.
Royael cited Hague as an example of the savings achieved through this initiative: In 2024, the town of Hague was paying over $700 per trip to haul trash from its transfer station, and this year the average cost through the Warren County program is about
$300.
“In the Town of Bolton, we aren’t spending nearly what we were spending in 2024. We have paid about half of what we paid in 2024,” added Bolton Town Supervisor Ron Conover.
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According to the county, the program also won some state funding back in August. The Warren County Planning Department applied for and received a $450,000 grant from New York State to improve the program with the purchase of a new, more efficient truck for hauling, and for the hiring of an additional staff member.
The county said the DPW is looking to add an additional truck by January 2026 to replace one at the end of its life that is currently being used for recyclable hauling, for a total of three waste program vehicles.
Repair Cafes
On June 7, 2025 we hosted our 5th ever Glens Falls Repair Cafe. Despite the rain, the event drew 46 people hefting a total of 54 items for potential repair. At the end of the day our amazing volunteer repair coaches had managed to repair nearly 75% of them, with another 19% sent back for parts. Overall, this was one of the most successful cafes to date. Our next Repair Cafe will be held on Saturday, October 4th at Crandall Public Library from 10am - 1pm.
Queensbury Residents
The Town of Queensbury officially opened its ReUse shed at the Ridge Road Transfer Station on Saturday March 8, 2025.
Here are the details
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Items must be CLEAN, in good WORKING order with NO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE
This ReUse Facility will not accept:
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Chemicals, paints or stains
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Electronics
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Clothing
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Mattresses and Boxsprings
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Large chairs (like recliners) and sofas
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Lumber or Building Materials (including used carpet, glass panes and used tiles)
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Propane Tanks
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Car Seats, Strollers and Cribs
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Large Appliances
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Medical devices
Springtime at the Johnsburg Transfer Station
Click here for hours of operation and location
Pete’s Repeat in Johnsburg has been very busy. It has been a community gathering spot with over 30 volunteers that staff the shed everyday that the transfer station is open. Much appreciated by second home owners and young families starting their independent life.
Carrie Woerner Introduces Bottle Redemption Bill in NYS Assembly
Glens Falls Post Star March 7, 2024
The New York State Bottle Bill is over 40 years old and efforts to overhaul it in recent years has ended in a dead end. Assemblymember Woerner's bill may help to keep redemption centers in business until reform can be legislated. To understand more check this link... Bottle Bill
Peter Horvath, a Zero Waste member in the town of Johnsburg, Warren County, was featured in this North Country Public Radio segment. (To Listen click here)
Beginning in July 2023, Zero Waste Warren County, ZWWC, started collecting food scraps from area residents at the Glens Falls Farmers Market. Our goal is to have a weekly presence at the farmers market through the end of October 2023. Several produce vendors at the Glens Falls Farmers Market have agreed to take the buckets of food scraps we collect back to their farms to be composted.
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We accept food scraps and food waste with several exceptions:
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No meat, fish, bones, or dairy.
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No liquids, oil or cooking grease.
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Food scraps and food waste must be free of
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paper
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plastic
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cardboard
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metal
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glass
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twist ties, rubber bands, and stickers.
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Bring your food scraps for composting in a lidded container and take the container home with you. A Zero Waste volunteer will inspect the food scraps for contaminants before accepting it.
Food waste and yard waste make up more than 25% of our garbage. In landfills these organic wastes generate methane, which is very potent greenhouse gas. When food waste and yard waste are composted, they create a healthy nutrient rich soil.
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If you are interested in helping with this effort, you can sign up to take a 2 hour slot at the GF Farmers Market once a month. The GF farmers market is on Saturdays and slots are 8-10 A.M. and 10 A.M until Noon. We also need help setting up the canopy and taking it down. While at the food scraps collection table, volunteers will inspect food waste brought by farmers market customers. This will involved dumping their food scraps in a clean bucket and making sure there is no plastic, metal, glass, paper, twist ties, etc. If there is, they will be asked to take it home. There will always be 2 volunteers at a time.
Zero Waste Warren County is proud to announce "A Guide to Re-Use, Repair and Recycling of Household Items in Warren County"
The New York State Bottle Bill at 40 - Is it time to update the Law?
Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Bottle Bill, at a time when society is drowning in discarded plastic waste and local recycling programs are in crisis on several fronts, it’s time to update and expand the state’s highly successful container deposit redemption program. In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics (by weight) than fish.
Clearly, reducing the amount of plastic waste -- and waste in general -- is a critical way to avoid “doomsday” environmental scenarios continue reading here.