The Recycling Planning Office & is in the Solid and Hazardous Waste Program (SHWP) under the umbrella of Environmental Regulations, in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP strives to preserve, maintain, protect and improve the environment to ensure the integration of high environmental quality, public health and economic vitality. The mission can only be accomplished in partnership with the general public, businesses, the environmental community and all levels of government. In a joint statement following the passage of the bill, Assemblymembers Annette Quijano, Mila Jasey and John McKeon, sponsors of the bill, said the bill “will allow us to be at the forefront of a recycling industry in transition by stimulating demand for recycled materials while reducing pollution, such as the navy.
garbage and microplastics. Bob Smith and Linda Greenstein also sponsored the bill. Under the bill, the DEP could also review and update any of the post-consumer recycled content requirements based on factors such as changes in market conditions, availability of recycled material, or capacity of recycling infrastructure. Over the past 10 years, Camden County, like many other places, began single-stream recycling, where residents combine all recyclables into a single bin for collection.
Other supporters include the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, which called the measure “a sustainable program with measurable metrics and realistic objectives. The fact is that these non-recyclable items were never supposed to be placed in their recycling bin. While the main recyclables have remained the same, some municipalities have different specifications for what is acceptable. For this reason, the County and its municipalities have stepped up their educational efforts to keep these items out of the recycling stream.
End-market specifications for recycled materials have tightened, making non-recyclable items in their curbside bin a bigger problem for facilities that separate and process what you place in that bin. To help boost the market, the bill directs the state’s DEP to establish incentives for manufacturers, recyclers and retailers to collect and reuse polyethylene film, and the DEP must also work with the New Jersey Waste Pickers Association and the Clean Communities Program, a program state garbage reduction program, to develop and implement a state educational program aimed at encouraging recycling. It also closely monitored the New Jersey bill by drafting model legislation for the minimum content of post-consumer recycled plastic for items such as garbage bags and beverage containers. If the paper packaging of the products came out of the store freezer, it cannot be recycled and must be placed in the garbage container.
In January, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill that aims to leverage and reinforce recycling efforts across New Jersey by requiring more recycled content in a variety of packaging products. Over the years, there have been several major changes to items that are acceptable and unacceptable in single-flow recycling programs. No matter where you live in New Jersey, the blue recycling bins with their triangular arrow logo are a familiar sight on rural, suburban and urban streets. Curbside recycling programs follow the same basic rules throughout New Jersey, and your local program may include additional materials.
In addition, the Recycling Unit develops and coordinates numerous initiatives and programs to develop the recycling market. Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator and current president of Beyond Plastics, an organization working to end single-use plastics, said plastic recycling has been disappointing.