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State's recycling efforts waning

Data show issue on the "back-burner" of people's minds
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/29/07
BY TODD B. BATES
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER

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New Jersey's recycling rate dropped from 2004 to 2005, but that may be at least partly related to reported decreases in scrap metal recycling, according to state officials.

Recycling rates in Monmouth and Ocean counties also went down, according to new state Department of Environmental Protection data posted on its Web site.

Mary Owen of Red Bank, a decades-long recycling advocate, said she'd heard the recycling rate had fallen, "but I'm glad to hear it's not as bad as I thought it might be."

Yet "in view of the climate challenges, why I certainly think that we ought to be recycling every scrap we can," said Owen, 87.

On Friday, DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson announced that the agency is providing grants totaling nearly $4.2 million to support county and municipal recycling efforts, according to an e-mailed statement.

The grants are based on county and municipal "recycling performance" in 2005, the statement says.

That year, 10.1 million tons of garbage were disposed of and 11.4 million tons of municipal waste, as well as commercial waste such as scrap iron, concrete and wood, were recycled, the DEP statement says.

In 2005, the statewide recycling rate dropped to 52.9 percent from 55.2 percent in 2004, DEP data show.

Recycling peaked a decade ago, reaching 61 percent overall in 1996 and 1997. Municipal solid waste recycling, which peaked at 45 percent in 1995, dropped to 33.8 percent in 2005, according to DEP data.

Statistically, the decrease from 2004 to 2005 is not very significant, DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna said.

But New Jersey "should be doing a lot better and we need to be doing a lot better," Hajna said.

The message isn't getting out, and "the recycling culture has waned" in some parts of the state, he said.

The DEP is seeking to boost recycling, partly by requiring counties to update solid waste plans, according to Hajna.

In Monmouth County, the recycling rate declined from 55.6 percent in 2004 to 52.1 percent in 2005, while Ocean County's rate dipped from 53.5 percent to 52.6 percent.

Monmouth County officials are considering requiring recycling of additional materials and want to increase education, said Jim Brown, assistant recycling coordinator in Monmouth County.

"We're trying to make recycling come back at the forefront again in people's minds," Brown said.

"In people's minds, it's been on the back-burner," he said.

This story includes material from Asbury Park Press archives.

Todd B. Bates: (732) 643-4237 or tbates@app.com

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