County MUA Solid Waste Manager John R. Baron told commissioners Dec. 7 that a mention of news media coverage apparently brought a new appreciation of recycling at the new Grande Center here.
Recycling Coordinator Bridget O’Connor told this newspaper Dec. 8 that, “knowing at some point there would be tons of corrugated generated,” she stopped by in the early spring to explain mandatory recycling, especially corrugated cardboard.
Nevertheless, she said, haulers from the shopping center brought to the MUA landfill “more than once, loads with mostly corrugated in construction and demolition waste.
“It seems like everybody needs to be told a few times,” she sighed. “There is resistance to change.”
There also were visits to the center from the Middle Township recycling office, she said.
But, Baron told commissioners, the “technique that worked pretty well” was his comment to builders that failure to recycle would be reported at a public meeting “covered by a newspaper.” The Herald is the only newspaper that covers MUA meetings.
According to O’Connor, a construction supervisor then designated a separate container for corrugated.
“We feel it is a success story,” she said.
– Joe Zelnik
