Like solid waste collection, provision of solid waste disposal in Erie County is decentralized at the municipal scale with each individual jurisdiction determining its own arrangements. Unlike solid waste collection, however, no jurisdictions perform their own disposal services, leaving this aspect of the service wholly privatized through contracts. The EFW site, which is the only working resource recovery incineration plant in the region, accepts commercial, industrial, and residential wastes from Canada and much of Western New York, including 17 municipalities in Erie County. The facility has an available capacity at normal production of 680,000 tons per year, and processed around 665,000 tons in 1994. Available capacity varies from none in the Niagara Landfill to twenty years in the CID facility.
Some jurisdictions dispose of wastes outside the area.
The Town of Evans sends waste to a Chautauqua County-owned landfill in Ellery, New York, the Town of Colden to a private landfill in Pennsylvania, and the Village of Blasdell disposes of solid wastes in an Orleans County landfill. Three industrial waste landfills accommodate the wastes generated by area corporations, notably Niagara Mohawk Power Company, National Fuel and Gas, and Schultz Construction and Demolition. Recycling services in Erie County mirror solid waste collection and disposal in their high degree of decentralization at the municipal scale. Although every municipality requires residents and businesses to recycle, program specifics vary by community. Typically, patrons must recycle glass, aluminum cans, and newsprint, plus an assortment of other items including plastics, cardboard, and junk mail.