By: Cara Latham
EAST WINDSOR In less than a week, recycling will become easier for many township residents.
That’s because the Township Council gave approval at its meeting Tuesday for Waste Management to implement changes to its recycling program beginning Wednesday.
Instead of having to separate their recyclables into separate yellow and green containers one for metal, glass and plastic, and another for newspapers, magazines and cardboard residents of about 3,600 homes will be able to put it all in one container to be picked up by the company.
The change will not affect township residents who live in private communities, such as Twin Rivers, and pay private trash companies.
"This is a pretty major change that will make it a lot easier for residents to be able to recycle," said Mayor Janice Mironov, adding that the new changes could result in additional recycling.
The mayor also said the ease of the new procedure could encourage increased recycling by residents.
"It takes additional materials out of our solid waste collection, and from having to go to the landfill where we have to pay very significant fees to dispose of the materials," she said. "It appears all to be a plus."
The proposed change will not cost residents any additional money, will not change the schedule for recycling pickup, nor will it change the material that is collected, said Mayor Mironov.
Councilman Hector Duke also said, "it seems like a great idea to me. It will benefit the residents."
Under the new system, known as single-stream recycling, the company will deliver the recycling materials to the Colgate Paper Stock Co. Inc. recycling facility located in Somerset, where that facility will do the separating, the mayor said. The company previously took the materials to a facility on Enterprise Road in Trenton.
"There are companies now heading in this direction," said Mayor Mironov. "It’s just a matter of who does the separation in the process."
The green and yellow recycling containers may still be utilized and supplemented with regular trash containers labeled as recycling, if needed.
The council also voted Tuesday to move forward with improving traffic conditions on three of the roads highlighted in its recently released Transportation and Community Development Initiative study.
The first recommendation of the study is to install a traffic signal and add lanes at the intersection of Old Trenton Road and One Mile Road, Mayor Mironov said. The second would be to bring Conover and Hankins roads to a single-point connection at Route 130 with a traffic signal and turning lanes.
An extension of Lanning Boulevard which feeds the municipal building, senior center and commercial establishments would be the third area, and would enable traffic to reach the southbound lanes of Route130, avoiding the highway’s intersection with Princeton-Hightstown Road.
Mayor Mironov said the council should begin looking at trying to improve three other areas the intersections of Route 33 and Airport Road, Millstone Road and Old Trenton Road, and the Airport Road extension to find an alternative means of connecting the road to Route 130.
In other business, the council was presented with the 2005 township audit by Auditor Bill Antonides.
The fund balance for the township increased by $200,000 in 2005, and tax collection increased by half of a percent, he reported. The township’s debt is less than one percent, he added.
"The financial position of the township is excellent," said Mr. Antonides.

