Effective immediately, plastic bags that are typically provided by supermarkets and other retail stores CANNOT be disposed with your recycling garbage.  No plastic bags will be allowed in the collection of any recycling material.  Plastic bags should only be disposed as part of the regular household garbage.

Until December 31, 2020, permitted recycling items, such as bottles and plastics, can be placed curbside in clear/transparent plastic bags or in recycling receptacles.  Beginning January 1, 2021, permitted recycling items will only be collected if placed in recycling receptacles.

Changes in the recycling market and stricter waste disposal guidelines have necessitated the implementation of these requirements.  Because plastic bags jam up equipment at recycling facilities, recyclers are refusing loads “contaminated” with plastic bags.  In addition, the inclusion of plastic bags and other non-recyclable items in recycling waste results in the assessment of a “contamination fee” against the Town of Kearny which can be higher than the actual cost of disposing the recyclables.  In some instances, recycling loads are being rejected all together and end up having to be dumped as regular waste at a higher cost, thereby undermining the purpose of the recycling program.

Your cooperation is sought not only to avoid higher costs but to have a cleaner community and to help save the environment.   Please separate your recycling material and place it in a receptacle with a tight-fitting lid to keep dry and from blowing all over.  Please use a can no larger than 40 gallons and that does not weigh more than 50 lbs. with a tight-fitting lid.  And no plastic bags!

Permitted bottles and cans (commingled) consist of the following:  glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans, tin cans, plastic jars and bottles, jugs, etc.  Please keep these items DRY, as wet material is harder to recycle and may result in a “contamination fee” charged against the Town or the rejection of a particular load.

Mixed Paper consists of the following:  newspaper, magazines, junk mail, cardboard boxes, etc.

We thank our residents as we move forward with these new recycling requirements.