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Politics & Government

Switch to 'Robocans' Means More Recyclables Collected

One bin for all recyclables is a boon for taxpayers, freeholder says, especially as price of paper and aluminum rise.

Recycling is up in Ocean County at the same time the price of prime recyclables is climbing too, translating into good news for taxpayers, according to Freeholder James F. Lacey.

“We were up (in recycling volumes) in January and February,’’ he said. At the same time prices for aluminum and paper are rising.

While the county cannot control prices that fluctuate with supply and demand, Lacey said the increase in materials being recycled is the result of a policy switch at the county level, and to more communities using "robocans."

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Homeowners once had to separate paper and cardboard from glass, metal and plastics. Now everything can go into one container to be separated later at the county’s materials processing center in Lakewood.

“It’s just more convenient,’’ said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. The increased use of robocans cuts down on the number of municipal collections and makes it easier for homeowners to set things aside for recycling.

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What does that mean to taxpayers?

Lacey said 1,000 tons of waste buried in the county’s only landfill in Manchester Township would cost $71,000 in disposal fees plus the cost of collecting the waste.

A thousand tons of recyclables will net the community that collects it a $14,000 share of the money made from selling the stuff to be reused. The same community saves $71,000 in landfill fees, an $85,000 difference.

The county runs the materials processing center and takes three quarters of the income from the sale of recyclables to pay for it. The rest is spread among communities based on the amount of materials they bring to be recycled.

Checks for nearly $500,000 will be in the mail to communities based on recycling income for the second half of 2010, Lacey said.

Toms River, the second largest town in the county in population, is getting $96,843; followed by the largest community, Lakewood, with $70,490; Brick with $56,432; Stafford with $44,047; Berkeley with $28,466; Lacey with $27,472; Manchester with $22,699 and Barnegat, $16,975.

Beachwood is getting $7,298, Island Heights $1,619, Ocean Gate, $1,828, Pine Beach 2,159, Point Pleasant Beach $7,734, Ocean Township $7,160 and South Toms River, $1,606.

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