A recent audit by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has found that the state's recycling data are unreliable due to inadequate recordkeeping by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC is tasked with monitoring recycling facilities, including Recyclables Handling and Recovery Facilities (RHRFs), but between January 2021 and December 2023, it failed to receive 32 percent of required annual reports from these facilities. Furthermore, the recycling figures submitted were often inaccurate or lacked sufficient support.

Auditors also discovered that 35 percent of the facilities were not inspected during this period, raising concerns about the DEC's ability to verify reported data. Some facilities failed to report how much material they discarded instead of recycling, and there are claims that the DEC inflated its reporting deficiencies.

These data shortcomings hinder New York's ability to track progress toward its environmental and emissions reduction goals. Although Governor Kathy Hochul recently scaled back some climate ambitions as part of a budget compromise, the state remains committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

Mary Mueller, spokesperson for the comptroller's office, told Spectrum News 1, "It's hard to know if we're going to meet our climate goals since recycling is a big impact of preventing climate change and we know that solid waste accounts for 12% of state greenhouse gas emissions."

Recycling services cost New York residents approximately $788 million annually, according to an estimate by the Center for Sustainable Materials Management at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

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