Area towns to receive combined $47,000 via Ocean County Recycling Revenue Sharing Program

Local municipalities that have taken part in the Ocean County Recycling Revenue Sharing Program will receive a combined $47,865 of the $241,166 generated by all participating county towns during the first half of 2015.

Barnegat Township will receive $7,995; Barnegat Light is getting $563; Beach Haven will acquire $1,651; Eagleswood Township will get $670; Harvey Cedars is to receive $373; and Little Egg Harbo

Photo via Shore News Network
The county collected more than 37,000 tons of
recyclables during the first six months this year.

r Township will get $8,932. Long Beach Township is acquiring $3,243; Ship Bottom will get $1,080; Stafford Township is acquiring $20,077; Surf City is getting $1,276; and Tuckerton will receive $2,005.

Since the program began in 1995, the county has returned over $15 million to participating towns. Municipalities are provided a portion of the recycling revenues based on the amount recycled.

During the first half of 2015, the county collected 36,763 tons of recyclables from its towns. The payout for this period was $6.56 per ton.

The amount is based on the price per commodity in the current market.

“These prices change all the time,” said Freeholder James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the county’s recycling program. “And even though we have seen a decline in the average price of each commodity we recycle, we are still able to return money to our towns.”

For example, corrugated cardboard is down $31.90 per ton to $106 per ton, old newspapers are down $40.47 per ton to $79.53, and some plastics have decreased by as much as $127.80 per ton in comparison to the same period in 2014.

“Recycling comes with a host of benefits,” said Freeholder Director John C. Bartlett Jr. “One of the greatest benefits is keeping the material out of the landfill and preserving the space there. As a result of these recycling efforts, municipalities collectively saved almost $3 million in the first half of 2015 by not dumping those materials in the landfill, where they would have to pay a tipping fee.”

Although many towns invest the money back into the recycling program, they can use the funds as desired.

— Kelley Anne Essinger


This article was published in The SandPaper.