One of the first things we learned on a recent visit to the Ocean County Northern Recycling Center might surprise you: Ocean County residents can pick up mulch and compost for free.
The County turns leaves and other yard debris into compost and mulch that can be used again in gardens and landscapes. Instead of treating that material as waste, it becomes a resource that can go right back into our communities.
That alone is a pretty great example of what recycling can accomplish. But during our visit, Barnegat Bay Partnership Director Andrew McGowan and I got a much closer look at what happens to another very familiar waste stream: everything we put in our recycling bins.
For most of us, the recycling process ends when the bin reaches the curb. We know a truck picks it up, but what happens next can feel like a bit of a mystery.
Ocean County has operated a single stream recycling program since 2010. That means residents can place accepted paper, cardboard, bottles and cans together rather than sorting each material into a separate container. Those materials eventually make their way to the County’s Materials Recovery Facility in Lakewood, where equipment and workers separate the mixed recycling into different types of material. Once separated, those materials can be sent to end markets for further processing and recycling.
Seeing that process in person also makes it very clear why recycling correctly matters.
Not everything that seems recyclable belongs in your curbside bin. Ocean County currently accepts plastic containers numbered 1, 2 and 5, aluminum, steel and tin cans and foil, glass bottles, jars and containers, corrugated cardboard and mixed paper.
One of the biggest items to keep out of your recycling is plastic bags and plastic film. These materials can become tangled in recycling equipment, interfering with the sorting process. Recyclables should also not be bundled inside plastic bags before being placed in your bin.
But something not belonging in your curbside recycling bin does not necessarily mean it belongs in the trash.
Ocean County offers a number of special recycling and disposal programs for materials that need to be handled separately. At the County’s recycling centers, residents can drop off items including electronics, paint, waste oil, fluorescent bulbs and other materials. The County also has options for rechargeable and automotive batteries, cooking grease, rigid plastics, tires, shredded paper and more.
Household hazardous waste requires a different process. Ocean County holds a free Household Hazardous Waste Program for residents that accepts materials such as gasoline, pesticides and herbicides, pool chemicals, propane tanks, stains, varnishes and other household chemicals. Registration is required for these events.
The County operates two recycling centers. The Northern Recycling Center is in Lakewood and includes the recyclable materials processing facility, recycling education center, special waste disposal, residential brush and leaf drop off, and free compost and mulch. The Southern Recycling Center is in Stafford Township and also offers resident recycling drop off, special waste disposal, brush and leaf disposal, and free compost and mulch.
Residents who want compost or mulch can pick it up at the Northern Recycling Center at 535 Oberlin Avenue South in Lakewood or the Southern Recycling Center at 379 Haywood Road in Manahawkin. The materials are produced from leaves and yard debris collected in Ocean County and are available free of charge to Ocean County homeowners and municipalities.
Our tour was a good reminder that recycling is much more than putting something into a blue bin. There is an entire system of collection, sorting, processing and finding another use for materials that might otherwise become waste. That system works much better when what we put into it is actually recyclable.
So the next time you are standing over your recycling bin wondering whether something belongs there, take a second to check. And if it does not belong at the curb, that does not necessarily mean you are out of options. Ocean County has resources for everything from electronics and paint to yard debris, hazardous household materials and those plastic items that require a different recycling route.
And if your garden could use a little help, you might even come home with some free compost or mulch.
