First Year of Sorting Recycling Saves Maplewood, NJ $100K

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): After a year of sorting and separating paper and cardboard from other recycling, Maplewood residents —and the environment — are seeing benefits, according to Mayor Nancy Adams. At the January 1, 2024 Maplewood Reorganization Meeting, Adams reported: “Our Recycling program changed dramatically in 2023 from single stream to dual stream.

“This change required residents to remember to separate the cardboard and paper from the rest of the recycling and to put each out at the curb on separate weeks; it also required the township to clearly communicate the changes and the schedule, which we did by launching an SMS text messaging system for non-emergency notices to the public. This whole change took about a year and a half of meeting and working with South Orange to try to get more bids and better pricing for both towns’ recycling programs.

“I’m pleased to report that the new system created a cleaner stream of recycling being collected and brought to a new vendor resulting in fewer penalties for contaminated recycling and more profitable sales of the recycling materials resulting in a savings of over $100,000 for Maplewood in this first year alone. We hope the savings will be even more next year.”

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com