Recycling Pilot Program: What is it?

's new Recycling Pilot Program requires township employees to monitor which resident are putting out recycling, according to Deputy Mayor Ryan Green who explained the program at last week's Township Committee meeting.

If employees discover that resident's are not putting out their recyclables they will receive a letter of notification which explains that the recycling needs to be placed at the curb. If the resident does not abide by the recycling requirement "there are further steps that are taken regarding non-compliance," Green said. 

Green recognizes that not all residents need to recycle every other week, which is the current schedule for recycling pick-up - which will continue with the beginning on Jan. 1.

"There are people in the township who may only recycle once a month, there are people in the township who may miss a pick up here and there, there are people in the township who may bring all their recycling to the , so it really is difficult to gauge who is recycling just by driving by the morning when recycling is due to be picked up," Green explained. 

Green mentioned that some residents have complained about the new pilot program, intended to increase recycling in the township. Manalapan Township has one of the lowest recycling rates in Monmouth County. Violet Peterson, a Manalapan resident, aired her grievances about the program in a letter to the editor published in the News Transcript.

In order to better explain the program, or perhaps go about enforcing recycling in a better way, Green recommended bringing more people in on the discussion, including the Environmental Commission and the Green Team, a group connected with Sustainable New Jersey.

"I think we need to increase education before step up enforcement," Green said.

Future Sanitation has notified the township with the information they will be sending to residents regarding recycling before the New Year. Green said that this is a perfect time to up recycling education in an effort to get more residents to be environmentally conscience.

since the township pays a tipping fee for garbage disposal. A tipping fee is the cost of bringing the trash to the landfill, and it is calculated by weight. Therefore, if more people recycle (thus less recyclables being disposed of as trash) the weight of the garbage will decrease, causing the tipping fee to lessen, and taxes to reduce.

"Personally, I'm hoping the pilot program ends as soon as possible and that we can move forward with these other initiatives when it comes to recycling," Green said.