Have you ever wondered what happens to your recycling after it is placed into the recycling bin and put on the curb? Materials can be recycled into new bags, decks, benches, pouches, bottles, fleece, containers, and many other products. But how do the recyclable materials on your curb become new and recycled products?
The Recycling Process
In Essex County, where I live, all 22 municipalities have their own recycling programs, their own recycling coordinators, and their own contracts with haulers and material recovery facilities. Towns can hire private haulers or have their employees collect recyclables.
All towns in Essex have drop-off locations for recyclables, but hours and materials vary significantly. Municipalities can opt for single- or dual-stream recycling.
But what happens to the recyclables?
The respective hauler brings the materials to a materials recovery facility. Plastics, papers, and metals are then sorted and baled. After this process, materials are sent or sold to various markets. The prices of these materials change often, like stock values.
There are many markets that material recovery facilities sell to, so there is not a simple answer to the question, “Where do my recycled materials go?” For example, Bloomfield sends electronics to eRevival; textiles to H&M Leasing; corrugated and mixed paper to Integrity Recycling; commingled to Sims; and leaves, stumps, and grass to Nature’s Choice.
Benefits of Recycling
From speaking with recycling coordinators, I learned that recycling is more cost-efficient than landfilling or incinerating. The tipping fee to bring solid waste to the Covanta incinerator in Newark, where all waste from Essex County is sent, is $74.30 per ton. The disposal cost for solid waste at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority is $82.87 per ton.
Recycling costs vary from contract to contract, but there is often some revenue or savings. Here is an example:
• In July 2022, after processing costs, Montclair netted $5 per ton of mixed paper recycled and had to pay $35.00 for each ton of commingled recyclable material.
• The municipality received $1,098 for 220 tons of mixed paper and paid $4,532 for 129 tons of commingled recycled.
• If this tonnage had been incinerated, the municipality would have been charged $25,938 instead of the net $3,434 charged for recycling ($4,532-$1,098).
Therefore, recycling not only is beneficial for the environment, but also earns money for municipalities.
Needed Improvements
Although the materials you put on the curb are recycled, there is still room for improvement in Essex County’s programs. Stakeholders and recycling coordinators believe more education, source reduction, and materials reuse can help.
In New Jersey, the Recycling Tonnage Grant Program, established in 1981, subsidizes the costs of recycling by awarding each municipality money based on tonnage recycled.
Money to support this program comes from a $3-per-ton tax on all solid waste that is not recycled, as established by the Recycling Enhancement Act of 2008. To comply with this act, each town is required to submit a tonnage report. Some of this funding is also allocated for education and public information.
Ultimately, municipalities are falling short on recycling education.
With proper allocations of funding and promotions about local recycling programs, improvements can be made. These changes can be as simple as implementing recycling education; sending recycling tips and reminders through Recycle Coach and Remyndr, respectively; communicating where drop-off locations are; or posting announcements throughout towns and on social media platforms.
The bottom line is your recycling truly is recycled, via a multistep process, but improvements are needed for more efficient and successful recycling. More education is essential.
It is also very important to understand your own municipal recycling program, as there is much variation between programs. What is accepted in one township may not be accepted in another.
Danielle Rapsas is a student at Barnard College.
NJ Recycling Background: www.nj.gov/dep/dshw/resource/Tonnage/guide.pdf