Like a Billie Eilish song asking where do we go when we sleep, you might be wondering: “Where does my trash and recycling go when I throw it away?” The trash used to go to the city dump (now called the transfer station… we took a field trip there and wrote about it). Some things go to the transfer station, like trash you yourself are hauling (rubble from your garage, couches, TVs, etc.) when you can’t dump them on an Electronics Recycling Day or some such.

Where does the rubble from the cans go once it is collected by the trash trucks? A Little Beacon Blog reached out to Royal Carting by way of their attorney, Jim Constantino (who frequents City Council meetings when negotiating the yearly contract renewal or answering recycling or solid waste questions), to answer this question, in what became a few questions:

ALBB: Where is the recycling dumped for Beacon?

“Republic (Re Community), 508 Fishkill Avenue, Beacon, N.Y.”

ALBB: Where is the trash dumped for Beacon?

“Royal utilizes the Dutchess County Waste-to-Energy Plant (read a brief history here), Sand Dock Road, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The waste disposed of at the plant (which is Federal Clean Air Act-compliant) is used as fuel to produce steam that is sold to Central Hudson to generate electricity. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has qualified the ash byproduct with a ‘Beneficial Use Designation’ as alternative operating cover.”

ALBB: Is an incinerator used for Beacon's trash at all, and if so, where is that located?

“See above. Royal utilizes the Dutchess County Waste-To-Energy Plant. Solid waste delivered to the plant is used as fuel.”

ALBB: Do the trucks look the same as they do as when they are picking up regular trash?

“The trucks are the same design and color - green Mack rear load-compaction vehicles. Truck No. 199 collects the recycling. Truck No. 247 collects the solid waste.”

Read more about how recycling works in Beacon and why it is crucial to rinse your plastics, not put soggy paper into the cans, and make sure you know some of the other things you can’t put into the recycling can.