SWAINTON – Oops! The 20th anniversary of America Recycles Day slipped by unnoticed by many Cape May County residents Nov. 15.
Such an oversight may be forgiven if one spent part of the day making sure all the glass, tin, newspaper and plastic was tossed into the recycling can, not the trash.
Like someone struggling to do chin-ups in a gym, Cape May County recycling has been kicking and sweating to pull up to the mandatory 50 percent rate for of Municipal Solid Waste since 1997, according to data supplied by Linda “Lyn” Crumbock, recycling coordinator of the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA).
Rates compiled by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) indicate the county is getting better, but thus far, no chin above the bar. Trouble is the data is three years old.
The inquiry about county recycling rates was prompted by a DEP release touting America Recycles Day, sent Nov. 14, a day before the national celebration.
The county MUA is serious about recycling. It attempted to get a better figure when it allowed a single stream of recycling, meaning no longer was it necessary to separate paper from cans, bottles and plastics. One can, all recycling, with the hope that the recycling rate would escalate.
For 2014, the most recent year available to the MUA, the county’s recycling rate was 46 percent. However, if major recycling contributors, such as chain stores, which add great amounts of cardboard, are added into the tally, then it appears the county exceeded the standard by 1 percent, for a 61 percent total. That’s laudable, but no reason to slack off from recycling.
It is not what recycling should be at the municipal level, that standard is still 50 percent.
Crumbock stated in an email, “This year marked the 30th year since the passage of the N.J. Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act. NJDEP is “encouraging” (or beginning to enforce) that towns and the county start meeting and or exceeding these recycling goals.
“It is imperative that towns and counties work together to do this as municipal and county grants can be withheld. It is a good thing thought. It heightens the awareness and necessity to improve recycling.”
In 1997, when the county population was 95,800 the recycling rate was 32.9 percent (at the 50 percent goal rate).
In 2009, when the population rose to 102,329, the rate went to 42.5 percent.
With a 2014 population of 97,265, the rate is 46 percent.
While Crumbock urges recycling, one sore spot in the cycle is plastic bags used by chain stores for merchandise carryout.
If they are placed in with recycling, they are sorted out and become part of the trash stream. That’s because too many people put a wide variety of material in them which cannot be removed at the Intermediate Processing Facility. Thus they must be taken out and placed with ordinary trash.
Plastic bags can be recycled, but only from chain stores, many of which have recycling cans for them near their entrances.
For those who may belatedly want to celebrate America Recycles Day, the following is from a DEP release:
It is the only nationally-recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. New Jersey wants to remind residents that recycling is a daily opportunity for everyone to help protect the environment and conserve natural resources.
In 2015 for instance, New Jersey recycled over 14.9 million tons of material, for an overall recycling rate of 63 percent, up from 2014’s 12.8 million tons recycled and an overall recycling rate of 62 percent. In 2014 the state recycled 3.9 million tons of municipal solid waste for an overall
MSW recycling rate of 41 percent and in 2015 recycled over 4.3 million tons of municipal solid waste for an overall MSW recycling rate of 43 percent.
Hearing for 2018 Fees
The MUA will hold a public hearing Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at its Swainton headquarters, 1523 Route 9 North, regarding the proposed rate charge to dispose of solid waste. The fee will be $73.86 per ton for municipal waste and $78.85 per ton for construction and demolition waste.
There are a variety of other charges and types of material. For a complete list visit www.cmcmua.com.
Also Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. there will be a public hearing in the same room, on the rates for wastewater treatment.
Data concerning the water rates is available at the MUA website listed above.
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