Ocean Grove, NJ, on a Tuesday afternoon.    Blogfinger photo

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor  @Blogfinger

Ocean Grove is the first community in Neptune Township to experience single stream recycling. It has now been three months, and Wayne Rode, the Director of Neptune Township Public Works says, “We like it.”  Ocean Grove citizens have been cooperative, and why not? All you need to do is to dump your recyclables into the green can and put it out on Wednesday.

Mr.Rode said that his department was “in transition.”  For the rest of Neptune township, the single stream recyclable pickups will be automatic using special trucks that are not usable in OG (as is the case for regular garbage pickup as well.)  The entire town will be using the single stream method as of Nov. 1.

According to Mr. Rode,  Neptune Township will save $80 for every ton of waste that they divert from the landfill. And they will receive $10.00-$20.00 for the recyclables that they collect, yielding a potential gain of up to $100.00 per ton for the town.  The recyclables are taken to a facility on MemorialDrive  (at Vanderbilt) and then a private contractor removes the material to another location where sophisticated machinery separates the recycled goods.

We asked Mr. Rode for a list of those items that are eligible and not eligible, and this is what I received:  “Ocean Grove residents will be able to put all of their recyclables such as bottles, cans, cardboard, newspaper, junk mail, cereal boxes and more into one can, loose, mixed and untied. ”  There was no mention of what should not be included.

We asked for more details,  and he said, “Items that can be placed into the Single Stream Recycling Container: aluminum, tin and steel cans; glass bottles, jars and jugs; plastic bottles (pourable containers); all paper fiber including newspaper, cardboard, magazines, junk mail and phone books”

He also included a list of items “that can NOT be placed into the Single Stream Recycling Containers: trash, yard trimmings, wood and Styrofoam.”

But if you check the Monmouth County recycling rules regarding “mandated recyclables,” they are more particular. For example, the following are unacceptable:  paper with food on it such as pizza boxes, cardboard that is not corrugated, paper cups, hard cover books, aluminum foil or pie trays, light bulbs, window glass, mirrors or waxed cardboard, egg cartons, napkins, tissues, paper towels or cookware.  Evidently, Neptune Township has different and less stringent rules for single stream recycling than does the County.

Interestingly,  our neighbor to the north, Asbury Park,  has simpler rules than we do.  The single stream recycling garbage pails on their boardwalk and beach signs say that anything can be tossed in there except food and diapers. And don’t toss the lifeguards into the pails. (see photo below)

Asbury has simple single stream recycling instructions. Blogfinger photo

But do you really have to worry about these details?  Evidently you do, because Neptune Township is committed to enforcing the County law on this.  Mr. Rode told us, in our  phone interview with him, that his department was already “enforcing” the law regarding recycling by issuing warnings to Grovers who do not recycle.

In a follow-up email, he said, “We utilize the following DPW personnel to assure compliance of the Monmouth County Recycling Mandate.”  He said that “the solid waste drivers and laborers report non-compliance and that the supervisors will issue ‘Notices of Violation’ as a warning, and educational material.”  Then he said the next step would be “DPW Recycling Inspectors issue ‘Notices of  Violation’ as a warning, and educational materials.”  And then, “In the event the violator continues not to recycle, we notify the Monmouth County Division of Solid Waste, who issues a N.O.V., and the threat of a $3,000 fine.”

But if a County official has the final word, then whose standards will he follow—the County’s or the Township’s?

I was surprised that there might be a penalty for those who fail to recycle.  Does this come as a surprise to you?  Perhaps the Township should tell Grovers, in writing and in detail, what the exact rules of recycling are in Neptune Township and what would cause someone to receive a warning and/or a fine.  In addition, the Township should tell us in exact detail how they go about determining who is guilty of ordinance violations and how their workers determine who is a violator.  And finally we need to know how the Monmouth County official decides whom to fine and how much to fine.