SHARE

North Bergen, Jersey City get $435,000 in NJ recycling grants

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Nearly a dozen municipalities in Hudson County will receive more than $866,000 in state grants — more than half to North Bergen and Jersey City — to help implement and enhance local recycling efforts, officials announced today.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot File Photo

North Bergen ($156,716) and Jersey City ($278,748) are the only recipients to reach triple figures, combining for $435,464 — more than the others combined.

The remaining $430,536 goes to:

Bayonne, $91,610;
East Newark, $3,847;
Guttenberg, $14,599;
Harrison, $18,627;
Hoboken, $37,033;
Kearny, $64,428;
Secaucus, $47,214;
Union City, $85,221;
Weehawken, $8,137;
West New York, $60,546

“As we observe the 25th anniversary of the state’s Mandatory Recycling Act this year, a landmark law that made New Jersey the first state to require recycling, we are making a call to  action across the state for everyone to renew their commitment to recycle,’’ Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said.

The funds are being awarded through the Recycling Enhancement Act, which state officials said have significantly increased recycling tonnage grants that the DEP is able to distribute to almost all of the state’s cities and towns.

Statewide, $13.1 million is being granted.

The recycling grant program is funded by a $3 per ton surcharge on trash disposed at solid waste facilities.
Distribution of grant funds this year is based on the recycling successes local governments demonstrated in 2010 — hitting a 40-percent municipal solid waste recycling rate for the first time since 1998, state officials said.

Municipal governments receive 60 percent of the money the fund generates earmarked for enhancing outreach and compliance.

The balance goes to county solid-waste management and household hazardous-waste collection programs, county and state promotional efforts, and recycling research.

New Jersey became the first state to require statewide recycling in 1987 with passage of the Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act. Municipal Solid Waste, collected from households and small commercial establishments, include paper, corrugated paper, glass, metal containers and plastics.

MORE INFO: http://www.nj.gov/dep/dshw/recycling/

to follow Daily Voice Cresskill-Closter and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE