Lakewood Receives $140K Recycling Grant From NJDEP

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Lakewood has received a grant of more than $140,000 to help the township enhance its recycling efforts.

The grant was part of $14.3 million in grants announced Wednesday by the state Department of Environmental Protection that aim to "further enhance recycling efforts," the DEP said. The amounts were based on 2016 recycling performance.

The recycling tonnage grants are awarded through the state's Recycling Enhancement Act and are funded through a $3 per-ton surcharge on trash disposed at solid waste facilities statewide. The DEP then allocates that money back to municipalities based on how much recycling each community reports accomplishing during a particular calendar year.

Lakewood received $140,559, one of three Ocean County towns to receive a grant exceeding $100,000.

"Each of us can have a significant impact on the environment simply by recycling every day," DEP Commissioner Catherine McCabe said. "Recycling helps keep our communities clean, generates revenue and jobs, and lessens the amount of trash going to landfills. These grants will help communities continue the important work of promoting the benefits of recycling and having a positive impact on New Jersey's quality of life."

Grants are based on materials collected and recycled in a municipality or county. The grants are to be used to further improve a community's recycling rate either by funding a recycling coordinator position, sponsoring household hazardous waste collection events, providing recycling receptacles and pickup in public places, maintaining leaf composting operations, doing educational outreach about the importance of recycling, or implementing curbside recycling pickup programs.

For 2016, the most recent year for which data is available, New Jersey generated
9.7 million tons of municipal solid waste, with 4.26 million tons recycled and 5.4 million tons disposed. This resulted in a slight increase in the recycling rate, to 44 percent, from the year prior. New Jersey's recycling rate exceeds the national recycling rate average of 34 percent, but is below the state's recycling goal of 50 percent.

Overall, New Jersey in 2016 generated 22.6 million tons of solid waste, which includes municipal waste plus construction debris and other types of non-municipal waste. Of the total collected, 13.9 million tons were recycled and 8.7 million tons were disposed, for an overall recycling rate of 61 percent. The overall rate for 2015 was 63 percent.

"New Jersey remains a national leader in recycling more than 30 years after becoming the first state in the nation to mandate recycling on a statewide basis," said Mark Pedersen, assistant commissioner for Site Remediation and Waste Management. "We are pleased to see so many communities recycling and expect that the grants will further their efforts to educate the public of the importance in keeping our environment clean. We remain committed to achieving a 50 percent municipal solid waste recycling rate in New Jersey."

Photo provided by the state Department of Environmental Protection