Bi-Monthly Electronic/Styrofoam/White Goods Recycling

The FIRST and THIRD Saturday of the month is electronic and styrofoam #6 recycling from 9am-noon held at DPW. Click below for more details on the electronic recycling program. Please check main calendar on front page of website for specific dates.

Recycling will take place bi-monthly from 9am-noon at the Department of Public Works yard off Berkeley Avenue, near the new Municipal Complex. Coming from Plainfield Avenue, go past the old Town Hall and take your first right onto Berkeley Avenue. Coming down Park Ave from Mountain Avenue, Berkeley Avenue will be on your left just before the old Town Hall.

Please bring proof of residency and please arrive with sufficient time as it ends promptly at noon. You do not need to get out of your car; please wear a mask and DPW employees will take the items out of your car for you.

Details about the Bi-Monthly Recycling Program

Styrofoam-Recycling

All You Need to Know About Styrofoam Recycling

With the rise of plastic pollution and the movement to reduce plastic waste, the possibility of Styrofoam and foam recycling is a critical question you need answers to. We will tell you all you need to know about the fundamental issues surrounding Styrofoam and foam recycling today.

Technically Styrofoam is a specific brand of expanded polystyrene foam made by DuPont.  Actual Styrofoam is made for construction and used as an insulation filler. Any of the foam plates, egg cartons, meat trays, cups, packaging inserts, coolers, etc. are actually expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) made from a wide variety of companies. Yet, colloquially, we still call it all "Styrofoam." Calling all these items polystyrene is starting to catch on, but Styrofoam is what everyone typically knows all of these items as. In addition to the many probable health risks that EPS foam creates, there are also several negative impacts from this material on our environment.

Click here to read more.  

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Drop Off Your Thin-Film Plastic at the DPWThin Film Plastic Recycling

Berkeley Heights residents can now empty their homes of saved thin-film plastic and easily recycle their loads! Dropoffs are the first Saturday of every month, from 9 am-12noon.

As part of a new Union County recycling initiative with Trex Company, Ind., the Union County Board of County Commissioners launched the free service this month. The new plastic film recycling program is the first countywide plastic film recycling effort to launch in New Jersey.

The Commissioner Board is partnering with the firm Trex, the world’s largest manufacturer of high-performance, low-maintenance composite decking and other outdoor living products made from recycled materials.

The program launched with an initial cohort of 12 municipalities: Berkeley Heights, Fanwood, Cranford, Elizabeth, Hillside, New Providence, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Westfield and Union. Berkeley Heights residents can drop off their plastic at the DPW yard, adjacent to Town Hall, at 101 Berkeley Avenue. 

Information about locations and scheduling is available on the Union County website at ucnj.org/recycling/plastic-film and on the free Recycle Coach app for mobile devices.

Most of the participating municipalities will accept clean, dry plastic film from any Union County resident, regardless of their home town. Please note that the drop-off locations in Fanwood and Summit are not accessible to non-residents at this time.

In order to protect the recycling stream from contamination, only the following items are accepted:

From the store: produce bags, store bags, and ice bags

From the pantry: Ziploc and other re-closable bags, cereal box liners, case overwrap (for example a case of bottled water), and bread bags

From the front door: newspaper sleeves, bubble wrap, and plastic e-commerce mailers

As a reminder, only flexible plastic film may be recycled through this program. No clamshells, casings, containers or other hard plastic items are accepted.

The Berkeley Heights thin-film plastic initiative that was suspended during COVID had residents dropping off their plastic at designated locations throughout Berkeley Heights; volunteers would then bring the loads to ACME in New Providence for recycling. That program was wildly popular, thanks to the Berkeley Heights Environmental Commission and our residents' enthusiasm for recycling. This new initiative picks up where that left off, and eliminated the need for volunteers to drop off the loads of plastic for recycling. 

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN TAPinto BERKELEY HEIGHTS HERE