Middlesex County’s Recycling and Solid Waste Guide

1 Middlesex county s Recycling and Solid Waste Guide Middlesex county Solid Waste MANAGEMENT 732-745-4170 MARCH 2016 and search Recycling Recycle! EVERYONE MUST RECYCLE. This includes single-family households, multifamily ap artments, condos, industri es , businesses , gover nment, office s, constru ct ion s ites , sch ools, colleges and univer sitie s. EVERYONE MUST HAVE SEPARATE CONTAINERS FOR R ECYCLABLES AND GARBAGE. The only ex ception to this ru le is if your busines s has applied fo r an d received a Recycling ex emption from your municipality.

2 MAKE SURE THAT YOU PROPERLY SEPARATE YOUR RECYCLABLES AND DO NOT INCLUDE ITEMS IN THE Recycling BIN THAT ARE NOT RECYCLABLE. When in doubt, co ntact y our municipal recycl ing coordinator for t he correct i nformation. See Pa ge 16 for phone numbers. If you are aware of anyone who is not Recycling , or if you see a garbage hauler mix previously separated recyclables and garbage, please call the Middlesex county Division of Environmental Health at 732-745-8492. The Division conducts inspec tions of thes e locations and haulers to en sure that Recycling re quiremen ts are being followed.

3 Dear county R esidents: Welcome to the 19th edit ion of Middlese x C ounty s Recycli ng and Solid Waste Guide . I am pl eased to prese nt it to you as the Fre eholder Chairman for the Division of Solid Waste Mana gement. The county , through the Division of Solid Waste Mana gement, c ontinues t o work c losely with the S olid Waste Advisory Counc il , the Middlesex county Improvement Authorit y (MCIA), and the Middlesex county Utilit ies Authorit y (MCUA) to promote safe and sound Solid wast e and re cycli ng practices for our cit iz ens.

4 As you use this Guide , please ta ke advantage of the many county -sponsored re cycli ng and Solid Waste programs and se rvices ava il able to you. If you ha ve any questi ons, you may e-mail the Division of Solid Waste Mana ge ment at call 732-745-4170, or visit our website at It is my honor to re present and se rve the cit iz ens of Middlesex county on the Boa rd of Chosen Fre eholde rs. Yours sincerely, H. James Polos Fre eholder Cha irman, Public S afe ty and Healt h 2 In this page Recycli ng.

5 3 Clean 6 Tire R ecycli 7 Paint 8 Pape r 8 Household Hazardous 9 E-Cycle (Ele ctronics).. 9 Batt eri 10 Composti ng .. 12 Grasscycli ng .. 13 Kids 15 ..and much more! On the cover: Fre eh older H. James Polos (center in middle picture) with representatives from the Departments of Public Works of Carteret, Highland Park, North Brunswick and South Amboy along with staff from the Middlesex county Divisions of Solid Waste Management and Environmental Health. A special thank yo u to those municipalit ies and Highland Park Fire Department members Chief Jay Littman, Engineer David Seiden, and Firefighter Matt Flower for their assistance with the cover photograph.

6 What am I re quired to re cycle?Resid en ts (includin g residen ts of multifamily dwellings), and occupants of gov ern mental, institutional (schools, col leg es, un iversit ie s), and commercia l estab lishmen ts (retai l, restau rants , of fices, wareh ouses, con struction sites, etc.) must recycle the following mandatedmaterials:In additi on , commerc ial estab lishmen ts must re cycle fl uor escent bulbs an d new con struction sites must re cycle clea n wood scrap. Also, warehouses, retai l and sup ermarke ts with 25 or more employees m ust recyc le pl astic film (s tretch/shrink wrap and pl astic b ag s).

7 3 Al uminum can s Glas s bottl es an d j ars Steel an d tin c an s Plastic bottl es with a #1 or #2 on the bottom Newspap er Co rrugated car dbo ard Mix ed p ap er ( magazi nes, o ffi ce pap er, jun k mail) Te xt il es Co mputers an d t elevisions Re char geable batt eri es Leav es Brush Motor oil Ti res White goo ds ( refrigerators , a ir con dit ion ers , w as hers , dryers ) Mas on ry /Paving i s im po rta nt th at you know wha t c an and ca nn ot be recycle d in your residents jus t re cycle everything thinking the y are doing the ir part to he lp t he environment.

8 Bu t, placing items in your curbside Recycling bin tha t cannot be recycled wastes time, ene rg y, and money. Recycling faciliti es have to pa y t o sor tand dispose of i tems tha t should ha ve been thrown in the garb age in the first pla ce . This increases costs to eve ry taxpa ye llow the se simple rules: DO NOT include gard en hoses, VHS tapes, us ed syri nges, toys, ca rp et, plates, shoes, clo thing, cups, utensil s or plastic ba gs in your Curbside Recycling Bin. DOreuse your pla stic bags at ho me or see if your lo ca l grocery store acc epts the m for Recycling .

9 DO re cycle your clothing at any of the many clo thing dr op-off boxes in your community. DO pour out li quids from food and bevera ge bo ttles/cans before putting in re cycling bin. DO NOT re cycle any boxes or pa pers tha t are covered in food, gre ase or liquids. DO recycle your piz za boxes if the y do not h ave gre ase or ot her food on the m or con sider only Recycling the top of t he box. DO NOT re cycle any bot tle s tha t con tained hazardo us materia ls (empty motor oil , pestic ides, antifreeze, pa int).

10 DO call your local Recycling co or dinator (see page 16) if you have que stions on whe the r an i tem should be recycle !!EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESThe Div isi on has a number of resources available FREE to sc hools and other ci vi c gr oups including sp eakers and assembly/educational programs. Call 732-745-4170 or email us at so li for more Di sp osalAccording to the Food a nd Dr ug Administratio n (F DA), ke eping medicines aft er th ey expir e or are no lo nger needed create s an unnece ssary health ri sk in th e home, esp ecially if ch il dren are present.