Buffalo’s recycling program is a failure that needs bold strategies to boost anemic participation rates, city officials said Tuesday.
The criticism surfaced as the Common Council voted to extend a joint recycling effort with Erie County through December. But in approving the contract, some lawmakers made it clear they want to see better results by the end of the year.
The percentage of waste being recycled in the city dropped from a high of about 14 percent in the mid-1990s to about 8 percent today. Many comparable cities are recycling at least one-third of their waste, according to experts.