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Township To Residents: You Are Not Recycling Enough
By Catherine Snipe
Township residents do not recycle in large enough numbers. In order to address the issue, the mayor is trying an education campaign along with specialty bins.
Mayor Dan Kelly again spoke at the township council caucus meeting to urge residents to recycle. He is also trying to gather a rough estimate of what percentage of residents actually participate in the township's recycling pickup.
A portion of the recycling route will receive specialty bins, Kelly said. The plastic containers are used for recycling, allowing compartments for each type of recycleable, whether paper, plastic or aluminum.
The mayor called this a pilot program, to see if it improves those residents' ability to set out recycling. "If it does, the program could expand," Kelly said.
The idea is to take out one step of the chore of recycling. Council members agreed.
"I believe you have to make it easy for people to recycle," council President Steve Acropolis said. The bins could have that effect, he said.
The bins will be paid for by a grant, said township Administrator Scott Pezzaras. But that's not all the grant will pay for. Bins and cans for recycleables should appear in parks and other heavily trafficked areas to deposit plastic bottles and soda cans alongside trash receptacles.
Besides being good for the environment, recycling also means money for the township, as the county pays Brick for the tonnage it collects, Kelly said.
What's more, recycling also reduces the amount of garbage the township must haul to the dump, and that means lowered costs when it comes to tipping fees. Tipping fees are the amount the landfill charges to accept garbage. Those fees keep going up, now standing at $96 for each ton of garbage, according to Public Works Director John Russo. That's an increase of $185,000 annually.
However, officials discussed whether the cost of staffing recycling trucks, fuel for the routes and other operational expenses of the recycling effort are cost effective compared to the revenue from the county.
"We want to do the best thing for two things: the taxpayers and the environment," Acropolis said.
But resident Melanie Briggs said the township needs to better enforce recycling efforts, as the practice is mandated; under the law, everyone must recycle. Couldn't a warning or fine be given to those who repeatedly do not recycle, she asked?
"We're not going to fine our citizens," Kelly said, especially since he believes it's a matter of education that residents are lacking when it comes to recycling. "We need to educate them right now, but maybe down the road that will become an option."
Kelly said that right now the township is not a leader in the number of recycleables collected, but fining those who don't may not solve the problem.
"We can be civilized enough to say, 'this is what you have to do, so please do it,'" Kelly said.
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