Auditors found that the information DEC uses to oversee recycling facilities and measure that system’s performance is not consistently reliable. DEC’s Solid Waste Information Management System, known as SWIMS, contained 389 of the 406 recycling facilities identified during the audit. The comptroller cautioned that its sampling methodology was not statistical, meaning those percentages cannot simply be projected across all recycling facilities statewide. During the three years examined, however, the department issued five notices of violation to three recycling facilities. DEC also argued that recycling facilities play a limited role in the policy decisions that determine statewide recycling rates.