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teach66
Citizen
Username: Teach66
Post Number: 63
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 10:20 am: | 
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Oh, I see there's a person Eric here who has something to do with all this. Eric, can you tell us exactly what the procedure is and on what days.
At one time I put out my papers in brown bags and they wouldn't pick it up. I called the town and they gave me the twine and so many inches ordeal. Now someone is saying that the brown bags are okay and the twine isn't true.
If by some weird chance recycling were my basis for choosing a location to live, I guess I'd pick Union, or South Orange for that matter. I love that bin that they wheel out. But I also LIVE for that once a year bulk pick up. Eric, do you also know what the rules are at our dump? I would love to know how to get rid of my larger garbage except for once a year.
Come on, give us the whole scoop.
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John
Citizen
Username: Jdm
Post Number: 93
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 11:04 am: |
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As I've said before, we put all our paper (except corrugated cardboard) into paper bags from the grocery store. Never had it not taken in 3 years. Corrugated cardboard I just pile up and they take that too. |
eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 527
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 8:45 am: |
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I would love to give you the whole scoop, but I don't have the time to type this morning. If you want you can give me a call at 973-762-1175 and I will answer your questions. If not, I will try to post on Monday.
Newspaper shouldn't be put in brown bags. Commercial paper and cardboard can get mixed.
Eric Burbank.
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sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3662
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 11:50 am: |
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I don't get twine. Why should the newspapers (or anything else) have to be tied up with a material which is different from what is being recycled? I put my newspapers out in bins, just like the other items, and they always take it.
I understand that if brown bags aren't recyclable then the papers shouldn't be in them (although somehow that is how many other communities recycle their newspapers and they sure do fit nicely), but I would think that twine would contaminate the newspapers more than brown bag paper ... ???? |
Gregdrex
Citizen
Username: Gregdrex
Post Number: 7
Registered: 5-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, August 13, 2006 - 10:02 pm: |
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Does anyone have any idea why someone would take my buckets on recycling day? Nobody steals my crates, only my buckets. My first time it was 3 green buckets, gone within minutes of the pickup. My second time it was an old spackle bucket. The DPW insists it is not them. I believe them since they don't recycle plastic. Who is the bucket thief????????????? |
Oregon gal
Citizen
Username: Oregon_gal
Post Number: 87
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 11:14 pm: |
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Having lived in Summit for the past year, I am very experienced in how easy recycling is there - to the point of suspicion. We could put all of our aluminum, glass, other metals and plastic (as long as it had a "neck") in the same bin. You cannot tell me that someone sorts all of that out on the other end! You could also just pile cardboard boxes up without breaking anything down and throw all paper together in bags or whatever. It seemed extreme to me on the other end of the spectrum.
On the other hand, recycling in Maplewood is incredibly complicated and at the same time not very thorough. The fact that plastics aren't recyclable at curbside is especially disturbing given their origin.
I come from the land of recycling. I think Portland has one of the highest levels of recycling of any metro area. The system is logical and uniform. Everyone has the same type of bins, they go out every week with the garbage, there is some simple separating and the public is very educated about it.
Maplewood can do better. |
Oregon gal
Citizen
Username: Oregon_gal
Post Number: 88
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 11:19 pm: |
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Here's a link just in case someone from the township is interested in how another city does it:
http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=527
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Camnol
Citizen
Username: Camnol
Post Number: 443
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - 9:33 am: |
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I was walking through the Millburn section of Wyoming the other night and noticed that Millburn has comingling of glass, metal, and plastic.
Recycling in Maplewood is too complicated and too limiting. I can't believe that we don't recycle cereal boxes and brown bags. Other nearby towns have been recycling them for years. I feel like I entered the recycling dark ages when I moved here. If the town wants to get some of that 3.4 million in grants, they don't need an inspector, they need to improve the program by making it easier!
I looked up the grant award list that was referenced in the Maplewood Leaflet. Of the top award winners that I looked up, they all had comingling of glass, metal and plastic, and allowed newspapers in brown bags or in containers. And that includes, Millburn, West Orange & South Orange. South Orange received $18,055.85, Millburn received $12,460.71, West Orange received $10,732.75 and we received $2,440.69.
I'll admit it, I try, but I recycle far less here than in my previous town, because it is so much harder.
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xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 679
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 11:47 am: |
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If you graduated from elementary school, you can figure out Maplewood's recycling rules. (Or any other town's recycling rules.) They are not that hard to understand or to follow.
Yes, you have to separate them out.
Yes, you have to put them out the 2nd and 4th Thurs of every month.
Yes, you have to bundle the newspaper together with twine.
Yes, you have to take the plastics to the recycling center.
They may be some gray areas (like pie pasn and certain kinds of plastic), but virtually all the pertinent info is out there if you bother to pay attention to what's written and what's practiced. If you don't, it means recycling--and the mission behind it--simply is not important enough to you to do so.
If you want the convenience of comingling, then you have to pay for it by hiring more municipal labor to sort them out at town's end. Do you think a measely extra 10K in grant money will come close to covering this service? In fact, I wonder how the towns that allow co-mingling really handle their recycles after they've picked them up.
By the way, thanks for posting here, Eric. I hope you guys at DPW can use some of the suggestions from here (and from Portland's program which seems great) to imporve the program. |
Wendy
Supporter
Username: Wendy
Post Number: 3012
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 12:10 pm: |
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Xavier67, great post - in all respects. FWIW, and as eab stated, I always see the guys putting our containers in the appropriate designated bins within their trucks. My only beef is with having to tie up newspapers. I assume the point is due to not wanting the papers to blow away since it's required at the Recycling Center as well as when it's put out on the street. I also assume that paper bags can get wet and would not be a helpful container when that happens. The only thing I don't do is flatten the cardboard since I see that the Recycling Center doesn't require it so I'm not about to do it on the street. I can see why it's wanted - to avoid loading up the truck prematurely - but I stack them and they take them (during the times when I don't drive over to the Center).
I hope we can somehow increase our recycling participation using a combination of strategies. Thanks for being so involved and creative eab. |
Camnol
Citizen
Username: Camnol
Post Number: 446
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 1:45 pm: |
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I feel very strongly that if we want to increase community compliance, we need to simplify the program. All you have to do is take a look at the difference in recycling rates between South Orange and Maplewood. You have two communities that are so similar in makeup that many consider them to be the same town. Yet, when recycling rates were measured, one of these towns (South Orange) rates in the top three in Essex County and the other (Maplewood) rates in the bottom 2. Do the residents of South Orange love their planet more than the residents of Maplewood, or is South Orange's program easier to comply with?
Here is the list of DEP awards, if anyone is interested.
I've lived a lot of places, never anywhere more environmentally and politically aware than Maplewood/South Orange, yet our recycling rate is abysmal. I'm sure that a lot of hard work went into devising the recycling program, but I think it's time to give it another look. I guess I'm having a hard time understanding how South Orange, West Orange and Irvington can afford comingling and we can't.
Maybe there is a grant out there somewhere that could pay for a test program. We could implement it and then maybe advertise a friendly "recycling war"--"Let's Kick South Orange's Butt!"  |
eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 533
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 6:31 pm: |
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FWIW, I think there was a mistake made in the reporting. These numbers were from 2003, that was before I was involved so I can't say for sure. I spoke with someone from South Orange today and our year end numbers aren't too far off from each others. Also, South Orange may have gotten more of a grant but we make a lot more on the sales of our products. In one of the Recyclilng courses I took this year Maplewood's price per ton for the newspaper was more than double any other town's. The instructor made me bring in an invoice to prove that I didn't make the numbers up, that's how much money we get for the newspaper.
Also, we are looking at making some changes to the program to make it easier. We first have to make sure it makes financial sense. We are working on this problem, we just need some more info before we can make a decision.
Eric Burbank |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3727
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 6:51 pm: |
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Nobody has explained the why of twine on the newspapers yet, other than a speculation from Wendy about the papers blowing away ... but they take the other paper loose, so that seems inconsistent. And there seems to be an awful lot of untied papers in the bins at the center also.
As I've also mentioned on another thread about pool rules, understanding the WHY as well as the WHAT in regards to rules usually helps with compliance (assuming that there really is a good reason WHY.)
And, the recycling guys are still taking my newspapers untied (but contained in a bin) every week, so I'm still going with that.
However, if there are good reasons for twine or breakdown of cardboard or whatever else and that saves us money, etc., then someone should inform us AND the pickup guys should stop taking them when they are wrong. AND, whenever they don't take a load for some reason, they could leave a flyer (on top of the un-picked-up items) that includes the explanation of what is wrong. I realize that this would take a bit of extra time initially, but it should actually save money and time once people get it. On the other hand, if there aren't good money-saving or recycling-promoting reasons for some of these rules then, by all means, SIMPLIFY!
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Camnol
Citizen
Username: Camnol
Post Number: 447
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 7:02 pm: |
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That sounds great, Eric. I think educating the community on the profits that recycling brings to the town will also help with compliance.
As for the 2003 date, I think this explains it:
"The recycling grant awards are performance-based, requiring specific documentation of total material recycled during calendar year 2003, the latest annual statistics available for the state."
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/newsrel/2005/05_0123.htm |
Lydia
Supporter
Username: Lydial
Post Number: 2130
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 7:35 pm: |
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I think that some little incentives might help recycling compliance.
I'm always for friendly competition, actually I'm always in competition with the rest of my block re: recycling - they just don't know it.
Neighborhood associations should put out the word that Maplewood is lame about recycling and the winning block association gets, um... a winning prize.
My block will win that winning prize.
We will throw down and recycle that winning prize if it's made of paper, plastic #1 or 2, or glass in any color but blue - that's the way we roll recycle!
Compost that Pink Flamingos! |
John
Citizen
Username: Jdm
Post Number: 116
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 11:11 am: |
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Last time I'll mention this:
Contrary to the "rules" that keep getting repeated here, the recycling guys:
1. Throw all the glass they pick up into one bin, completely defeating the "rule" that glass should be sorted.
2. Take newspaper without it being wrapped with twine (in fact they take all my paper, even though it's mixed up in brown paper bags). Like the glass, all the paper goes together in one bin.
I have no idea what the recycling plant actually looks like, but modern ones can separate individual pieces of glass by color automatically. I also seriously doubt that anyone there sorts out the paper by hand once it arrives (that is, all the paper goes into their machines together).
If I'm wrong about the plant, then I agree there should be consequences for recycling the wrong way, and the recycling guys shouldn't pick up stuff if it isn't sorted correctly. |
Bart Stevens
Citizen
Username: Bartstevens
Post Number: 3
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 7:22 pm: |
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I have read the thread and I still don't have a clear picture of what happens with our recycled glass. The Maplewood rules require that the glass get sorted by color.
John says he has seen the recycling truck toss all the glass into one bin. I don't think anyone has disputed that assertion. I understand that there are separate areas for each color, but it seems that when the trucks come across a container with mixed glass, they toss it in.
Eric doesn't say that our plant requires us to separate the colors. He says that the plant has required glass to be separated by colors in the past and may do so in the future, but implies that it isn't a requirement now. Other townships don't require separating by color and presumably use the same plants as we do.
Eric, does the plant we use currently require us to separate by color? Do we get charged more if the colors are mixed? If not, it seems that relaxing the rule would make recycling easier and bring our practices in line with other townships, so why not relax the rule?
If I have this all wrong, can you please take a few minutes and explain what happens between the time we put our recycling by the curb and it gets processed by the plant.
Thanks so much. |
eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 536
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 8:33 am: |
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The glass has to be separated by color. If the curbside contractor picks up some containers that are commingled...he shouldn't.
They do not all go in to one bin as John is stating. All the recyclables are dumped at the recycling yard on Boyden Ave. and the glass in separated by color. There is a percentage that is mixed, but not enough for the market place to refuse our load. If the market place refuses our load we then have to pay to dispose of the load. As of late, the market place has been commenting about our loads getting close to allowed percentages.
The newspaper being tied is to prevent it from blowing around.
Once again, please give us some time, I am woriking on something right now and if it goes through it will make recycling in Maplewood a lot easier.
Thank you,
Eric
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SOrising
Citizen
Username: Sorising
Post Number: 683
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 10:19 am: |
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What are the obstacles and downsides you mentioned about paying per unit of garbage, Eric?
As Oregon gal, juju's petals and others know, there are many towns that do this. I have seen it in Oregon and Virginia and it always seems to increase recycling, as well as charge people by the amount of garbage they generate rather than have some (including the elderly on fixed incomes and little garbage) subsidize others. |
eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 537
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 4:01 pm: |
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The biggest downside is illegal dumping. Most if not all of the cities that have switched to the per bag system have noticed an increase in illegal dumping.
Another problem that occurs is people fogeting to purchase more bags. They are then left with the trash sitting around for extra days. This can become a health problem in the summer time.
I persoanlly think this is the best way to go, but there are some kinks to work out and more information needed.
Eric |
SOrising
Citizen
Username: Sorising
Post Number: 693
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 7:29 pm: |
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What about increasing the fines and keep increasing them for illegal dumping until it has the desired effect of preventing it? In the meantime, the town has a little extra money from the fines.
Health problems: seems there should be some solution here. Increased awareness about the problem in the summer especially? What have other towns done facing it?
Are there other kinks? I wish SO would do something like this, but it probably is hopeless there.
Is there any discussion of sharing reclycling or garbage services between SO and Mplwd? |
eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 538
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 9:20 am: |
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I spoke with South Orange last year about the sharing of recycling pick up and it wasn't something that could easily be done. We offer two total different programs and the savings wasn't there because you are still talking about the labor factor.
If I remember corretly SO picks up once a month and we are twice a month. Also, SO uses the DPW guys to pick up some material and we contract it all out.
Eric |
SOrising
Citizen
Username: Sorising
Post Number: 708
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 3:19 pm: |
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Well, the towns (SO & MPLWD) might get better prices if they had the same contractor service both towns, wouldn't they? The greater the numbers, the lower the per household cost should be, isn't it? The DPW problem could be solved it seems: DPW provides same service to MPLWD, SO uses same contractor MPLWD does and stops using DPW, SO shifts money it used to spend through DPW for it to MPLWD vendor, etc. Its hard to imagine these present insurmountable obstacles. |
argon_smythe
Citizen
Username: Argon_smythe
Post Number: 912
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 3:45 pm: |
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SOrising, I read your solution to the "DPW problem" three times and I still don't follow it.
SO's DPW manages the entire recycling program for the town, and Maplewood's recycling program is one of the least effective ones around, as noted in the title of this thread, so why in the world wouldn't you just take SO's model and expand it to include Maplewood?
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