Sea Cliff Tackles Low Recycling Rate with State Help

Sea Cliff’s recycling rate has dropped to less than 18 percent of residents, well below the village’s target of 30 percent, and local officials are now looking at outside help to turn that number around.

The Village of Sea Cliff Board of Trustees took up the issue at its March 9 meeting, prompted by Dina Epstein and Laura Russo, co-chairs of the Sea Cliff Environmental Conservation Committee. The two proposed bringing in the state Department of Environmental Conservation to deliver a presentation on its Comprehensive Recycling Analysis program, a detailed process that examines recyclables in the waste stream, evaluates existing recovery efforts, reviews administrative and financial structures, and maps out alternative recycling strategies.

The board agreed to pursue the presentation, though trustees were clear about where they see the real problem.

“It’s not our infrastructure that’s the problem, it’s our resident participation,” said Trustee Nicholas Pinto. He noted that the CRA program is typically designed for communities that lack a recycling system entirely, which is not Sea Cliff’s situation. For the program to be worth the village’s time, Pinto said the presentation needs to focus on motivating residents to actually change their habits. “If the presentation is focused on motivating residents to recycle, then it’s worth it,” he said.

That gap between a functioning system and actual participation has frustrated village officials for years. Mayor Elena Villafane praised Russo and Epstein for their sustained work on the issue, which has included distributing bins, putting up posters, and cleaning up the beach. But she acknowledged that persistent effort has not moved the needle the way anyone had hoped.

“We’ve been fighting the fight since you were on the board,” Villafane told the co-chairs. “If we can figure out a way of motivating residents to reduce, reuse, and recycle, short of going into their homes and doing it for them, then I’m all for it.”

Her comment reflects a challenge that many Long Island municipalities share. Public education campaigns and convenient infrastructure do not automatically translate into community-wide behavior change. Sea Cliff has tried both, and the recycling numbers have still fallen short by more than 10 percentage points.

Russo and Epstein also pointed to the village’s website as an area that could do more work. Clearer, more prominent recycling information online could help close the awareness gap for residents who are willing but uncertain about what they can and cannot recycle. The board appeared receptive to that suggestion as well.

The trustees also raised the possibility of recycling enforcement through a village ordinance. That conversation is still in early stages, but it signals that the board is willing to consider a harder edge to complement the ongoing public outreach. Enforcement mechanisms could range from warnings to fines, though no specific structure was discussed at the meeting.

Villafane framed the path forward as a combination of education and practical guidance. “It’s part public education and part procedures,” she said. “We’re always open to new information and options on the topic.”

For Russo and Epstein, the board’s openness to exploring new approaches is encouraging. The two have invested significant volunteer time in pushing Sea Cliff toward stronger recycling habits, and they see this moment as a chance to bring in fresh tools and outside expertise.

“Our goal is simple,” Russo said. “We want people to recycle more.”

That simplicity is also the difficulty. Changing household behavior at scale requires sustained messaging, easy access, clear instructions, and sometimes a nudge that carries real consequences. Sea Cliff has the infrastructure. What it needs now is participation.

The DEC presentation, if it moves forward, could offer the village concrete strategies tailored to communities where the system exists but the follow-through is lagging. Whether that translates into measurable improvement in the recycling rate will depend on what the village decides to do with that information and how aggressively it moves to act on it.

For parents raising children in Sea Cliff, watching the community fall 12 percentage points short of its own recycling target is not just an environmental concern. It is a lesson being taught by example, and right now, it is not the right one.