TRASH / RECYCLING TOWN RESIDENTS ONLY
2023 News: Upgrading the Town of Geneva Transfer Station
Cornell’s Design Connect team completed an analysis of needs using a survey of residents and other information, and completed a design in mid-May for a new Recycling and Disposal Station for the town, including a reuse center that will make Free Stuff Day every day. Read the final report here.
TRASH PERMITS AVAILABLE FOR $75
For $75 a resident can purchase a punch card that allows the disposal of 2 30-gallon bags of trash per punch, with the card containing 52 punches. The bags must be taken to the Town's Recycling and Disposal Station at 32 White Springs Road and placed in the trash compactor. The Station is open Wednesday 9:00-5:00 and Saturdays between 8:30-4:00.
RECYCLING PERMITS
Recycling is also available to town residents at the Recycling and Disposal Station upon purchase of a sticker for placement on a vehicle ($20 per vehicle), good for the calendar year.
2024 Transfer Station Recycling Permits are now available.
Please note these are for Town of Geneva Residents ONLY.
The application can be found here.
Brush and leaves can also be taken to the Station by Town residents with a recycling permit.
APPLICATION AND PAYMENT
You can obtain these permits at Town Hall from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Thursday. After hours please complete the required information and place the forms in the drop box by the flag in front of Town Hall, along with a check payable to the Town of Geneva. Your permit request will be processed, and the stickers will be mailed to you.
If You Smell Landfill Odor, Report It:
- NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Region 8, Scott Foti, 585 226-5408
- Seneca Meadows- Waterloo and Seneca Falls, Odor Hotline (800) 889-4318
- Ontario County Landfill- Flint, NY - Hotline 1-888-230-2004; landfill office 585 645-0016
Electronic Waste Collection Sites:
Staples-337 Hamilton ST. Geneva, NY
Salvation Army-979 RT 5&20 Geneva, NY
Electronic Recycling drop-off locations for residents in other towns:
PC & Wireless shop: 585-412-2100
Laser Genesis: 585-289-2008
Regional Computer Recycling & Recovery: 585-924-3840
Call the location you want to deliver to and check to see what the cost will be for your items!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE
RECYCLING AND DISPOSAL STATION
32 White Springs Road
The town provides this station as a service to town residents and to encourage conservation and sustainable living while covering most of the daily cost with user fees. We can only move to a sustainable future together!
General Rules. Open Wednesdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For Town of Geneva residents recycling and disposing of their residential materials. Not for commercial or business generated items. Residents must annually obtain a sticker from the town clerk for $20 per auto for all recycling (recycling compactor, metal container, food waste, yard materials) and other Station use, and a punch-card for $75 to dispose of trash by the bag, 2 bags per punch for new cards (prices subject to change).
For the Trash Compactor. Trash is counted by the 30-gallon bag and must be in bags that can be tossed in the compactor or dumped into it. We encourage you to keep food and other organic waste out of the trash (that’s what creates odor and harmful gases at the landfill). Talk to us about a backyard composter or a bucket to collect and bring food scraps to the Station. Trash for this compactor includes styrofoam, napkins and paper towels, wrappers and packets, plastic wrap and utensils, dirty paper cups and plates, flat glass, ceramics, and aerosol cans. Don’t use the trash compactor for leaves and other yard waste, building materials, appliances, or hazardous waste like oil-based paint, electronic equipment, batteries, fluorescent bulbs (tube and compact), or medicines. The county holds household hazardous waste disposal events twice a year; save those items for those events and check www.ontariocountyrecycles.org or with the town supervisor for details.
For the Recycling Compactor. Toss into this compactor:
- empty and clean glass bottles, containers, and jars of any color
- aluminum and tin cans and foil
- plastic containers #1 - #7
- corrugated and cardboard boxes (broken down)
- office paper, junk mail, magazines, envelopes, and newspapers
- cartons - food and beverage cartons such as:
For the Metal Container. Toss into this container scrap metal and items made primarily of metal like steel, iron, copper, and aluminum. Not for large appliances or items containing freon or hazardous materials. Can it be fixed? The town holds a fix-it clinic twice a year. Check out www.townofgeneva.com or inquire at the town hall.
For the Food Waste Container. Dump your food waste in this container, including bones, meat, and dairy.
For the Yard Debris Pile. Dump un-bagged leaves, shrub prunings, and branches (no greater than 6 feet long and 6 inches in diameter) on the pile (unless you have your own compost pile or box at home. Interested? We can help you get started with a back-yard compost box).
For the Construction and Wood Debris Container.
WHEN AVAILABLE – CHECK FIRST. Non-bagged waste like home construction debris and wood must be weighed and placed in a special container; see the attendant for help and recording the charge, 15 cents per pound, payment is due in 10 days. Use will be suspended for bills unpaid for fifteen days. Charges are subject to change.
*Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris is a type of waste that is not included in municipal solid waste (MSW). Materials included in C&D debris are steel, wood and wood products, drywall and plaster, brick and clay tile, asphalt shingles, bricks, concrete, asphalt, plumbing fixtures, non-asbestos insulation, empty buckets.
No Businesses - Residents Only - No Furniture - No Mattresses
Questions? Suggestions? Email supervisor@townofgeneva.com.
Check out www.ontariocountyrecycles.org for county-wide recycling information.
Ontario County Recycling/Waste Diversion Webpage
Recycling Film Plastics
From Bubble Wrap to Bread Bags - The Right Way to Recycle Your Film Plastics
We've all been there - you have a bread bag or grocery bag in your hand and wonder if it can be recycled. The truth is, what we decide to do with these plastics, otherwise known as film plastics, influences recycling programs on a global scale. You as the consumer play a very important first step in the recycling process.
Examples of film plastics include:
- Bubble wrap, air pillows, and all-plastic envelopes/mailers that protect items during shipping
- Produce bags, bread bags, grocery bags, and zip top food storage bags
- Product overwrap (paper towels, bathroom tissue and bulk cases of water wrapped in plastic)
- Dry cleaning bags
- Newspaper bags
How do I recycle film plastics?
Although recyclable, film plastics cannot go in your household recycling bin with bottles, cans, jars and jugs. The flexible lightweight film plastics cause dangerous machinery jams at sorting facilities that are designed to sort containers. Film plastics require their own special recycling programs.
In NY, stores that meet certain criteria are required by law to provide film plastic recycling under the Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling Act. Recycling your film plastics in many cases is as easy as bringing them back to the grocery store to special drop-off bins for recycling. Find a drop location near you! Wegmans and WalMart in Geneva have bins for bags you can put other film plastics in.
When bringing film plastics to retail drop-off locations be sure they are:
- Acceptable film plastics to drop off to avoid contaminating the recycling stream
- Clean and dry
- Free of any food, residue or debris
What happens after I drop my film plastics off?
When you properly recycle your film plastics at a return to retail drop off location, they can be recycled into composite lumber for making decks, benches, and playground sets. Film plastics can also be reprocessed into small pellets, which can be made into pallets, containers, crates, and pipe. Recycling film plastics converses natural resources, keeps our streets and waterways clean, and protects wildlife.
COMPOSTING
"The Ontario County Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the county landfill when the operating contract expires at the end of 2028," Supervisor Mark Venuti said. "Our goal is to substantially reduce what we throw away so we won't confront an expensive dilemma about managing refuse when it happens."
Studies indicate food waste represents about 20 percent of what goes in a landfill, but it can be made into a useful product.
The town set goals of 100 households collecting food waste for transfer to a composting facility, and 100 homeowners composting on their property. In 2017, 40 homes obtained compost bins to do their own composting under the program described below, and other residents are bringing food waste to the Town's Recycling and Disposal Station (32 White Springs Road), and depositing it in the Organic Waste Bin (pictured below) located at the Station. If you need a bucket to collect food waste in at home, they are free to Town residents while supplies last. Contact info below.
On-Ground Compost Unit
The backyard composting boxes (pictured below) are made of recycled wood and have a lid and design that will keep out animals. Residents are offered the box, a red worm compost boost, set-up help and instruction, and continuing on-call help. 
Benefits: This technique does not require unnecessary maintenance. It uses decomposing microorganisms from the ground and produces a rich compost that can be used in the yard to add to the soil health of the area.
Best tactics:
- When doing yard work, including mowing, raking, trimming, and others, start a pile next to your bin.
- Over time, (suggested once every 2-3 dumps of kitchen scraps) put a pile of browns (leaves, yard trimmings) on top
- Create layers with greens (food scraps) and browns to ensure quick decomposition
- Always try and layer brown material on top to ensure smell repression
- Harvest the compost from the bottom about every 6-10 months
Why composting matters:
- Expected yearly landfill diversion: 20 pounds a month per person, 2.57 average people per house, or 617 pounds per year!
- Equivalent in greenhouse gas emission to driving 1456 miles in an average US car!
The package has a $130 value. However, the Town is providing it to residents for only $20!
“If you’ve thought about composting but haven’t felt capable of taking it on, this program will make it possible,” Venuti said.
The projects are expected to divert more than 120,000 pounds of food waste in the first two years.
You get the outdoor compost bin, a kitchen bucket, a bag of compost boost, ongoing assistance as needed, a $130 value, for only $20!
Contact Mark Venuti or Jacob Fox (210-833-8666) for more information! Lets make the Town of Geneva a more sustainable place and reduce our reliance on the landfill!