The Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders is asking residents to recycle smartly during the upcoming holidays and into the new year.
Household waste typically increases during the holidays so residents are encouraged to pay attention to what they discard in their recycling bins and to help with collection by flattening cardboard boxes and making sure they do not contain Styrofoam or plastic film or packing materials, according to information provided by the county. Cutting large boxes so that they fit properly in the recycling container saves space and allows for more items to fit.
Paper gift wrap, gift bags, cards and tissue paper should be recycled, but foil coated gift wrap, bows and ribbons should be excluded from recycling, according to the statement.
Holiday lights and other electronics should also not be discarded in recycling cans but brought to the Resource Recovery Complex at 22000 Burlington Columbus Road on the Mansfield-Florence border.
“ ‘Tis the season for holiday gifts and decorations and other things we all love. We want residents to enjoy these things but also take the time to recycle all those boxes and paper the right way,” Freeholder Tom Pullion, the board’s liaison to the Department of Solid Waste and Recycling, said in the statement.
To assist residents with remembering the dos and don’ts of recycling, the freeholders encourage downloading the free Recycling Coach app that includes information about the county’s recycling program and accepted recycling materials, as well as updates and alerts about the collection schedule for specific towns and areas, according to the statement.
The app even has a reminder function that can help ensure residents never miss their assigned recycling day.
The Recycling Coach app can be downloaded from iTunes or the GooglePlay app stores. For residents without smart phones, a PC/Laptop version is available at www.co.burlington.nj.us/1602/Recycle-Coach.
With the amount of material so high during the holidays, collection is more difficult and in some select cases may not be completed on all streets on the scheduled collection day. During those times, crews will return within the next few days to finish. Such delays are communicated to the towns and residents via the Recycling Coach app.
“Burlington County collects recycling in all 40 of our towns and we’re one of the only counties in New Jersey to provide this service free-of-charge. It is a proven property tax saver that we’re extremely proud of, but we need our residents to help out by taking the time to recycle the right materials properly,” Pullion said in statement. “Downloading the Recycling Coach app is a great way to stay up to date with the recycling schedule and to understand exactly what can and cannot be recycled.”