The Union County Board of County Commissioners will be holding a special recycling event called Beyond the Bin on Saturday, November 4th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.at the Union County Vocational Technical School in Scotch Plains. All residents are asked to bring all unwanted, acceptable items to the event. “As part of my ‘Building a Stronger Union County’ initiative for this year, we continue searching for new ways to take accountability of our waste production and strengthen our recycling systems. Beyond the Bin was perfectly designed to make it remarkably easy for residents to recycle multiple items by having all articles collected on the same day, at one location” said Union County Commissioner Chairman Sergio Granados. “Together, we are taking the necessary steps to becoming a more environmentally conscious and responsible community. I hope to see you all there.”
The County of Union understands that several challenges within the current recycling program still exist. Some residents may be unaware that certain items, like plastic film newspaper sleeves or an old fax machine or broken computer for instance, can be recycled. Others are unsure of where to take items to be recycled, and may end up throwing them in the trash. Furthermore, with New Jersey’s highly successful ban of single use plastic bags well underway, we now have a surplus of reusable cloth bags piling up in homes, cars, and garages that residents just don’t know what to do with.
Electronic waste, or e-waste, comprises approximately 70% of our overall toxic waste, but only 12.5% gets recycled. According to data reported on globalewaste.org, e-waste climbed up 21% from 2014 to 2019 globally, with America taking second place on the list of the highest producers. With staggering numbers like these expected to climb in the coming years, a worldwide call to address the electronic waste problem and start recycling has been made.
Another staggering statistic is that the United States generates just over 17 million tons of textile (clothing/fabric) municipal solid waste per year, which is 5.8% of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generation (2018 statistics, as per www.epa.gov). Instead of throwing this material in the trash, you can now give it a second life at this event.
For more information, visit https://ucnj.org/recycling/.