Brick Offers To Trade Plastic Bags For Reusable Ones

BRICK, NJ — If you are someone who leaves the grocery store with your purchases in plastic shopping bags, Brick Township officials are encouraging you to go green — or in this case, blue — instead.

Representatives of Brick's recycling program will be on hand at Stop & Shop Supermarket on Friday, July 29, for a plastic shopping bag exchange, the township said in a news release.

Residents will receive one reusable Township of Brick bag as well as educational materials as part of the “Pitfalls of Plastic Bags” program.

“Plastic bags, like those you receive from the supermarket, are not recyclable through the township’s single-stream recycling system,” Mayor John Ducey said. “Many people do not realize the financial ramifications that result in these plastic bags being mistakenly, or intentionally, discarded in the blue recycling containers.”

Ocean County officials told Brick Township that the plastic bags that get handed out by many stores cause a variety of problems at the recycling center that have about a $1 million impact each year.

Plastic bags tossed into recycling cans wrap around the screens, which then have to be cleaned and frequently repaired. Plastic bags and other undesirables accelerate the wear and tear on the rubber stars, shafts, and bearings, the county told Brick. That accounts for approximately $65,000 in added maintenance costs annually, according to the Brick news release.

To combat the issue, the county has seven full-time labor positions to pull plastic bags and undesirables off the line before reaching the screens but that still does not catch all of them, the news release said.

Brick Township Recycling Coordinator Trish Totaro said she hopes the bag exchange will motivate residents to utilize reusable shopping bags or to bring the plastic shopping bags back to the store so they can be recycled properly.

The “Pitfalls of Plastic Bags” program also corresponds with the township Environmental Commission’s ongoing “Trash Free Waters” initiative, which works toward pollution abatement with a focus on plastic waste and the impacts plastic has on our waterways, the township said.

Totaro is working with the Environmental Commission and Councilman Jim Fozman, who is chairman of the township's Public Works Committee, to expand the availability of reusable bags and reduce the prevalence of plastic bags in the community.

The bag exchange runs from 10 a.m. tonNoon at the Stop & Shop Supermarket, 55 Brick Blvd. Shoppers entering the store must trade their plastic shopping bag(s) in order to receive one township reusable bag per household.