Recycling Changes Effective January 1, 2023

Does anyone reading this post know where I can find information on the new recycling schedule for Maplewood that starts on January 1, 2023?  The mailing from the town that I received late yesterday requires the ability to read a QR code to obtain this information.  It does not provide a link to where the QR code takes one who scans it. I searched the town website yesterday and could find no information on this there.  

Issue for those who do not know is that the town has now been divided into three recycling pick up zones.  Some will still have pick up on Mondays.  Others will get pick up on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.  I would like to know how the town has been divided so I can spread the word throughout the Senior community, who like me May lack the knowledge or capability to read a QR code,  TIA.  

Note:  I have already reached out to the Mayor, the other TC members, The town administrator, the person responsible for the town website, the town engineer, and the head of DPW so please don’t reply by suggesting I call the town on Monday.  If I get any information back from official sources, I will gladly share that information here.

joan_crystal said:

Does anyone reading this post know where I can find information on the new recycling schedule for Maplewood that starts on January 1, 2023?  The mailing from the town that I received late yesterday requires the ability to read a QR code to obtain this information.  It does not provide a link to where the QR code takes one who scans it. I searched the town website yesterday and could find no information on this there.  

Issue for those who do not know is that the town has now been divided into three recycling pick up zones.  Some will still have pick up on Mondays.  Others will get pick up on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.  I would like to know how the town has been divided so I can spread the word throughout the Senior community, who like me May lack the knowledge or capability to read a QR code,  TIA.  

Note:  I have already reached out to the Mayor, the other TC members, The town administrator, the person responsible for the town website, the town engineer, and the head of DPW so please don’t reply by suggesting I call the town on Monday.  If I get any information back from official sources, I will gladly share that information here.

https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/government/public-works/recycling-and-waste-disposal

alha said:

https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/government/public-works/recycling-and-waste-disposal

Thank you so much.  Will share this.

Joan, you’re in section 2. Your pick up day is Monday. Same as section 1. 
What they did was consolidate two sections into one day for pick up. 
Here’s the map color coded. Hope it helps.

And the recyclables on alternating weeks. 

Jaytee said:

And the recyclables on alternating weeks. 

great information.  Someone put real thought into a good concise presentation.

It doesn't look like they are able to accept any materials we weren't already recycling (?)  From the initial information that had been reported, I had hoped for that to be the tradeoff for separating fibers from the rest.  But I'm glad to see the information provided here.  I do fear that there will be a lot of non-compliance, though ... I wonder if the recycling company will just leave the materials on the curb in that case? (That may well be the only way to get the message across.)

Gonna need to go to Home Depot to buy about 12 plastic bins to keep all this separate, then remember which one to take to the curb mid-week. 

ridski said:

Gonna need to go to Home Depot to buy about 12 plastic bins to keep all this separate, then remember which one to take to the curb mid-week. 

Yeah, I printed out the calendar that Jaytee posted and plan to stick it somewhere as a reminder. 

ridski said:

Gonna need to go to Home Depot to buy about 12 plastic bins to keep all this separate, then remember which one to take to the curb mid-week. 

Color coding may help, both on the bins and on a calendar you keep near the bins.

joan_crystal said:

ridski said:

Gonna need to go to Home Depot to buy about 12 plastic bins to keep all this separate, then remember which one to take to the curb mid-week. 

Color coding may help, both on the bins and on a calendar you keep near the bins.

Yeah. It's going to be weird. I really don't have space to store recycling in the house for 2 weeks, so I'll need to get another one for outside. 

Town just emailed this out:

Start sorting out your recyclables now. The revamped, dual stream, curbside recycling program for South Orange and Maplewood kicks off the new year on January 2 with collection in Maplewood. Starting in 2023 recyclable materials will need to be separated into two categories for two distinct pickups on alternating weeks. One week’s pickup will be exclusively for Fibers (cardboard, paper) and the following week’s pickup will be for Commingled (plastic, glass, and metal containers). The revised curbside pickup rhythm will begin each week in Maplewood (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) and finish up each week in South Orange (Thursday and Friday).

The revised system is the two towns’ response to changes in the recycling markets which have driven costs up for both municipalities at the same time as concerns about the rate of recycling have also increased. South Orange Village Trustee, Bill Haskins, summarized the advantage of the dual stream system, “By separating our commingled plastic, metal, and glass from paper and cardboard and alternating pickup weekly, we will decrease the contamination of both streams, making them more marketable, and ensure that more of what is recyclable actually gets recycled.” Maplewood Committeewoman, Nancy Adams, further explained “We really couldn’t continue with single stream and still manage costs so we need the community’s help in making this dual stream process work to be more efficient and effective and they can start by reviewing the lists of what is and is not recyclable curbside.”

Acceptable FIBER materials include:

• Corrugated cardboard
• Boxboard (flattened cereal boxes, etc.)
• Paper bags
• Junk mail (Including window envelopes)
• Office paper
• Newspapers & magazines
• Corrugated brown pizza boxes (no grease, food and liner removed)

Acceptable COMMINGLED materials include:

• #1, 2, & 5 plastic containers, bottles with caps
• Glass bottles an jars with lids (any color)
• Aluminum cans, pie tins, & catering trays
• Steel/tin food cans
• Gable top cartons (orange juice, milk, aseptic packaging)
• Juice boxes (e.g., TetraPak)

Both Adams and Haskins emphasized that reducing contamination will be key to making the new system work for everyone. That means not putting out the wrong items on the wrong week, not including anything that isn’t on the list of acceptable materials, and not “wish-cycling” by including things that can not be recycled by Bayshore, our materials recovery facility. For more information on recycling schedules, acceptable/unacceptable materials, and FAQs, please visit Maplewood's Recycling page. To avoid problems in January, Maplewood and South Orange residents are encouraged to review the recyclable materials lists and begin sorting their recyclables at home now!

Just wait until the holiday pick up, or lack thereof, schedule kicks in. Fun times ahead. They still accept everything at the Boyden st facility? 

the18thletter said:

Just wait until the holiday pick up, or lack thereof, schedule kicks in. Fun times ahead. They still accept everything at the Boyden st facility? 

yes. 

Maybe it’s better if the town gives the large recycling bins to each household, like some other towns do. One blue one green. Less confusing.
You wheel the blue one out this Monday (commingled)

Next Monday you wheel the green one out (paper). 
It’s simple really.

I'm just going to use a spare 30 gallon trash can.  This really is not hard, and I am surprised at some of the resistance I am seeing.  Recycling service is getting more expensive, so from a "don't raise my taxes" view this is good.  And from a green perspective there is a better chance that more goods, especially paper, will actually be recycled so this is good.  But I think some people are hell bent on feeling wronged by everything.  Really we should never ever have switched to single stream recycling anywhere.  

DanDietrich said:

I'm just going to use a spare 30 gallon trash can.  This really is not hard, and I am surprised at some of the resistance I am seeing.  Recycling service is getting more expensive, so from a "don't raise my taxes" view this is good.  And from a green perspective there is a better chance that more goods, especially paper, will actually be recycled so this is good.  But I think some people are hell bent on feeling wronged by everything.  Really we should never ever have switched to single stream recycling anywhere.  

I don't feel that's an entirely fair analysis of my position, DanDietrich. I'll get over it, it's an annoying inconvenience, and either I'll get another can, take my recycling to Boyden every week instead like I used to when no one picked us up, or just not recycle as much. I'm presuming they'll have 2 recycling compactors at Boyden now, right? So we can take both kinds there on a Saturday morning? Or will they be alternating that, too?

DanDietrich said:

This really is not hard, and I am surprised at some of the resistance I am seeing.

It’s a complication, and even minor complications can be difficult to keep straight across town-size populations.

I was confident about my own ability to follow along until I discovered that we’ve been cardboard tube scofflaws all this time.

DaveSchmidt said:

DanDietrich said:

This really is not hard, and I am surprised at some of the resistance I am seeing.

It’s a complication, and even minor complications can be difficult to keep straight across town-size populations.

I was confident about my own ability to follow along until I discovered that we’ve been cardboard tube scofflaws all this time.

And, who knew that clean aluminum foil that I crumpled into a ball is forbidden!

could this be more gd confusing.

BarneyGumble said:

could this be more gd confusing.

Yes.

ETA: Whoops, sorry. I see now it was a statement, not a question.

DaveSchmidt said:

Yes.

ETA: Whoops, sorry. I see now it was a statement, not a question.

it’s really not that hard.  In Germany they even separate bottles by color (and there is no pickup):

tpb said:

DaveSchmidt said:

Yes.

ETA: Whoops, sorry. I see now it was a statement, not a question.

it’s really not that hard.  In Germany they even separate bottles by color (and there is no pickup):

unfortunately here there is no market at all for glass.  Our glass is ground up and dumped.  Not just ours, I should add, but the entire region.  There is no glass processing plant near here, and it is so heavy that transporting it is not economical.  I wish we still had deposit bottles.

DaveSchmidt said:

It’s a complication, and even minor complications can be difficult to keep straight across town-size populations.

I was confident about my own ability to follow along until I discovered that we’ve been cardboard tube scofflaws all this time.

Cardboard tubes?  What's the problem with cardboard tubes?  Not recyclable?  

Elle_Cee said:

Cardboard tubes? What's the problem with cardboard tubes? Not recyclable?

”Cardboard tubes and plastic padding.”

Cardboard egg cartons, too.

From the link that alha posted above:

DaveSchmidt said:

”Cardboard tubes and plastic padding.”

Cardboard egg cartons, too.

From the link that alha posted above:

Thank you.  Do you think they mean paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes?  Or just the thick tubes that things like posters get mailed in?  I assume the latter, but it's a bit befuddling.  

Elle_Cee said:

Thank you.  Do you think they mean paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes?  Or just the thick tubes that things like posters get mailed in?  I assume the latter, but it's a bit befuddling.  

Both. Apparently, these tubes and packaging are sometimes made with plant material and therefore not suitable for recycling.

Elle_Cee said: 

Thank you.  Do you think they mean paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes?  Or just the thick tubes that things like posters get mailed in?  I assume the latter, but it's a bit befuddling.  

I assumed paper towel and toilet paper tubes, but now I see what you mean, in juxtaposition with a packaging item. 

Dunno.

Steve said:

Elle_Cee said:

Thank you.  Do you think they mean paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes?  Or just the thick tubes that things like posters get mailed in?  I assume the latter, but it's a bit befuddling.  

Both. Apparently, these tubes and packaging are sometimes made with plant material and therefore not suitable for recycling.

Not to be a smartass, but don't trees qualify as plant material?