Garden State, not Garbage State!

RELEASE: Nov. 2, 2007 – Volume XXXIX, No. 44

According to New Jersey Future, each Garden State resident throws out an average of 5.4 pounds of garbage every day – about a pound more than the national average. That trash has no place to go in this small state we’re in, so recycling should be the hallmark of every New Jersey household. Yet, our recycling rates are declining.

Although state-by-state comparisons are difficult to make, New Jersey appears to be a leader in the percentage of household trash we recycle. However, N.J. Department of Environmental Protection statistics show that our percentage of total residential and commercial trash recycled peaked in 1997 at 61 percent. From 1998 to 2004, the rate slipped to between 52 and 56 percent. For household trash alone, we peaked at 45 percent in 1995 and have declined steadily to 34 percent in 2004.

Why the plunge in recycling? One reason is that out-of-state trash disposal costs have dropped by more than 36 percent in recent years. Another is a lack of state funding for recycling enforcement, education and promotion.

In addition, New Jersey no longer gives incentive grants to towns based on the amount they recycle. Those grants had been funded by a trash tax, but the tax expired in 1996 and grant funding dried up two years later.

What to do? Recycling old ideas about how to boost recycling won’t likely reverse the trend. Fresh ideas and creative thinking are needed.

New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection has commissioned a survey to find out what would motivate people to recycle more. The Borough of Clayton in Gloucester County has already hit upon one strong motivator – cash!

Clayton contracted with Recyclebank, a unique waste hauling firm that pays local residents up to $35 per month in credits based on the amount they recycle. Credits can be redeemed for coupons that can be used at participating businesses, from local shops to national chain stores like RiteAid and Staples. Clayton’s recycling rates have reportedly increased by more than 50 percent, saving the town over $11,000 in landfill fees. In the first nine months of the program, residents cashed in over $400,000 in credits! Other towns across New Jersey should look at this model and see if it could work for them.

The state is also working to address the lack of recycling promotion and enforcement, and is requiring counties to recycle 60 percent of their trash.

Even without financial lures like those offered in Clayton, New Jersey residents can make a difference. Effective recycling is the sum of many tiny decisions. Make a habit of recycling and those decisions will come easily. Whether we’re paid or not, we all reap benefits from more recycling … a cleaner state, a healthier environment and lower taxes.

If you aren’t recycling now, get started today! Toss any recyclable glass, aluminum cans, paper, plastics and bi-metal cans your town accepts in the recycling bucket, not the trash can. And I hope you’ll contact me at info@njconservation.org, or visit NJCF’s website at www.njconservation.org, for more information about conserving New Jersey’s precious land and natural resources.

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