Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Department of Solid Waste has generated an estimated $120,000 in revenue in the past month from the sale of recycling permits. Those permits are now required for residents to access county recycling services. County Solid Waste Director Jolene Race reported Jan. 30, the county sold about 5,000 permits since the permits were first distributed to town clerks in mid-December. The one-year permits can be purchased for $50 from county service stations or town clerks’ offices. The cost for residents aged 65 and older, is $35. “We are sending out an additional 2,500 permits to town clerks’ offices,” Race said. “And on Jan. 14 we ordered 10,000 more permits. We have received a positive response from people. A lot of the people who are buying permits are people who have commercial haulers. They want to pay a lower fee.” The decision to levy a recycling fee was made in response to the challenges that arose after China stopped accepting recyclables from other countries. China was one of the top buyers of recyclable materials worldwide. The county took a risk putting the program together in about two months, said Stuyvesant Town Supervisor Ronald Knott, chairman of the Public Works Committee. “It was a push to get this started by the start of the year,” Knott said. “But it was a great thing to do.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.