Bernards Township Environmental Commission's Recycling Tour

Press release from Bernards Township Environmental Commission:

June 22, 2021

Members of the Bernards Township Environmental Commission recently visited the Colgate Paper Stock Recyclable Processing Facility in New Brunswick. Marsha Burke, Somerset County’s Recycling Supervisor, arranged the tour. Colgate is one of several outside vendors who bid monthly for Somerset County’s recycling. Members were able to see all aspects of Colgate’s recycling plant, which handles the county’s glass, aluminum and plastic recycling in addition to paper and cardboard.

Although cardboard, aluminum, and some types of plastic (#s 1 and 2) can generate income for the county, other types of recycling (glass and most plastic) do not currently have a market and therefore the county bears the cost of collection and disposition. According to Colgate, there are presently two major problems with the current stream of residential recycled materials: Plastic bags that jam sorting equipment, resulting in costly shutdowns, and recycled materials contaminated with food materials, which have to be removed as part of Colgate’s hand-sorting process.

According to EC Chair Ann Parsekian, “The most important message for the public is that NO plastic bags should be put into recycling containers, and only clean containers should be recycled – if you don’t want to clean the container, don’t recycle it.”

Vice Chair Deb DeWitt added, “If you don’t know whether an item is recyclable, the rule is: When in doubt, throw it out. And remember, worn out pots and pans, old bowling balls, broken plastic toys, and unwanted glassware don’t belong in the recycling bin!”

This press release was produced by Bernards Township Environmental Commission. The views expressed here are the author’s own.