NORWICH – Although the Chenango County landfill sells tons of recycled material to vendors each week, a new customer appeared in April – the Chinese government. They paid for recycled paper to be shipped from North Norwich to Asia.

The county’s Recycling Coordinator Pat Pittsley explained that 22.8 tons of recycled junk mail was sold to a regular vendor acting on China’s behalf. Pittsley said China paid $342 for the material and covered the cost of shipping and freight.

The recycled paper was loaded into a shipping freight container and taken to a harbor in New York City, where it was put on a cargo vessel destined for mainland China.

“It was the first time we’ve done this. We have a good rapport with companies and rarely get stuck with any excess material. However, this material we were looking to get rid of and there was a market for it,” she said.