Swan Paddle Boats at South Mountain Recreation Complex, Orange NJ (Photo by Dawn Croft)
Essex County Recycling
Mandatory Recyclable Materials
RESIDENTIAL
All homes, condominiums, townhouses, apartments, trailer parks, etc.,
including certain housing types considered institutional (i.e. senior citizen homes)
Newspapers
Mixed paper (i.e. junk mail, office paper, all marketable grades)
Old corrugated containers
Glass food and beverage containers
Aluminum beverage containers
Plastics (#1 and #2)
Steel/Tin containers
Leaves
Ferrous scrap
White goods
Used motor oil
Lead acid batteries (vehicle batteries)
COMMERCIAL
All places of business (wholesale, retail, service, food, transportation,
etc.)
Newspapers
Office paper (all marketable grades)
Old corrugated containers
Glass food and beverage containers
Aluminum beverage containers
Plastics (#1 and #2)
Steel/Tin Containers
Leaves
Ferrous scrap
White goods
Used motor oil
Lead acid batteries (vehicle batteries)
INSTITUTIONAL
All government buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics, etc.
Newspapers
Office paper (all marketable grades)
Old corrugated containers
Glass food and beverage containers
Aluminum beverage containers
Plastics (#1 and #2)
Steel/Tin Containers
Leaves
Ferrous scrap
White goods
Used motor oil
Lead acid batteries (vehicle batteries)
Municipal Residential Recycling Drop-off Locations in Essex County, NJ
LOCATION
HOURS
COORDINATOR
WEBSITE
If gate is locked leave outside gate.
NO curbside recyclables: Only e-waste, herbaceous waste, polystyrene and light bulbs.
Recycle Right: When in Doubt, Throw it out
Items that CANNOT Be Included in Curbside Recycling
FIRE: Rechargeable Batteries are dangerous and can cause fires. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER put any batteries in your recycling containers or in your garbage containers. Visit Call2Recycle’s locator or take to your local household hazardous waste program.
For proper Battery Recycling please follow these steps:
Not sure what kind of battery you have? Check the Call2Recycle Battery I.D Guide.
For more information and resources on battery recycling contact call2recycle at: http://www.call2recycle.org
Call2Recycle Avoid the Spark press release.
These items can contain batteries and hazardous components. They can be brought to one of the semi-annual Essex County e-Waste Collections for safe disposal and recycling.
Essex County Residents Please Remember:
- NEVER place syringes in with your recycling.
- NEVER bring syringes to the Essex County Household Hazard Waste collection event.
- Read the Do’s and Don’ts of Safe Disposal of Needles and Other Sharps prepared by the US FDA.
- Watch this video for an overview of safe needle disposal.
- Read NJDOH’s informative brochure at this link.
Disposal Options:
The best disposal options are:
- Ask your physician if she/he will take your used syringes.
- Ask your local Health Officer if there are any syringe disposal options in your area. This site at the NJ Dept of Health provides contact information for local health departments
- Visit SafeNeedleDisposal.org’s New Jersey page for a list of hospitals and medical facilities in New Jersey that accept syringes
- Utilize a mail back program such as:
https://www.completeneedle.com/
https://www.thinkgreenfromhome.com/SyringesAndLancets.cfm
https://mailback.medprodisposal.com/collections/sharps-disposal-1/
- Click here for a list of companies that offer mail back programs for their syringes
As a Last Resort: Disposal in the Garbage
You may dispose of syringes in the garbage if you:
- Call your town’s Superintendent of Public Works and/or Health Officer for permission and place syringes in rigid containers:
This link to SafeNeedleDisposal.org provides images of proper containers to use.
Visit this website of the US FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) for more information on the proper containers to use.
- Label the Container with a Warning: “SYRINGES – DO NOT RECYCLE!”
Click here for a poster which explains these steps.
- Seal the Bottle
- Ready for Disposal dispose of the tightly sealed full container of syringes in your household garbage
Please do your part to help keep our environment clean and safe.
References:
New Jersey Department of Health, Public Health Sanitation & Safety Program, Medical Waste
US Food & Drug Administration, Safely Using Sharps (Needles and Syringes) at Home, at Work and on Travel
SafeNeedleDisposal.org
Recyclables get compacted and these objects can explode. No tanks of any size whether empty or not, including camping size propane tanks, should be in your curbside pickup.
Never puncture cylinders/tanks containing gases under pressure!
Click here for information and resources for safely disposing of or recycling pressurized containers.
Sharp objects can injure employees if handled or become projectiles in mechanical sorting equipment. They should be discarded with solid waste. If it is not a metal food or beverage container, DO NOT place it in your curbside recycling container. Contact your Municipal Recycling Coordinator for ways to recycle other metals.
These products are a fire hazard during recycling processing. Hazardous Waste includes common chemicals such as paint, motor oil, some cleansing agents, pesticides, and more.
These items can be brought to an ECUA Hazardous Household Waste (HHW) Collection event.
- Plastic Bags:
No plastic bags of any kind should be placed in your curbside collection bins. Recycle plastic bags at participating drop – off locations.
Plastic bags and other plastic wraps and film can be recycled at certain supermarkets and retail locations. Visit PlasticFilmRecycling.org’s Find a Location page to see where. - Plastic mailing/shipping envelopes:
Remove labels and recycle with plastic bags at participating drop off locations. - Styrofoam, polystyrene blocks, packing peanuts:
Please check with your municipality. If your municipality does not recycle these items with a drop off location, place these items in your garbage.
These items should be disposed of with your solid waste:
- Plastics containers and other items numbered 3-7
- Plastic hangers
- Plastic drinking straws or stirrers
- No plastic items smaller than an 8oz size, including small loose caps and pill bottles
These items get tangled in recycling equipment.
Electric cords and wires can be brought to an ECUA e-Waste Collection event.
Pots and Pans
Hangers
If you are buying a new appliance, ask the vendor to take the old one.
Check with your town’s recycling office to see if they collect these items. These items may be collected during special “bulky waste” or scrap metal collections. Some towns require that you hire a licensed technician to properly remove and certify the refrigerant removal prior to accepting the item from you. Some towns handle the refrigerant removal for you.
Your power company may participate in the NJ Clean Energy’s Appliance Recycling Program. Check to see if your appliances are eligible to participate and if you qualify for a rebate.
Contact a local “scrap metal” company to see if they accept metal items containing refrigerants.
For more information, see “Appliance Disposal” at US EPA FAQ.
Bring loose shredded paper to a local paper shredding event to have it recycled.
These items should be disposed of with your solid waste:
Frozen food boxes
Pizza box bottoms with grease and food residue
These items should be disposed of with your solid waste:
Broken Glassware
Ceramic
Light bulbs
Mirrors
Drinking glasses
Pyrex®, leaded glass items
Window glass
These items should be disposed of with your solid waste:
Items with food or liquid residue
Pots (plastic or ceramic) from plants and flowers
Diapers
Garbage
Smoke detectors cannot be included in regular garbage, recycling or Household Hazardous Waste collections. To properly dispose/recycle smoke detectors, contact the manufacturer.
Code One/Firex/Maple Chase Products, 2820 Thatcher Road, Downings Grove, IL 60515 Dicon 3334 Main Street, Skokie, IL 60076
First Alert/BRK Brands, 3920 Enterprise Court, Aurora, IL 60504-8132
Gentex Corp. Return Dept., 600 N. Centennial St., Zeeland, MI 49464 616-772-1800
Interactive Technologies 651-777-2690 Call for instructions.
Life Saver/Frynetics, Inc., 1055 Stevenson Court, Suite 102W, Roselle, IL 60172
Nighthawk Systems, 1394 South 3 RD St., Mebane, NC 27302 800-880-6788
Safety’s Sake/Funtech, 388 North Ellicot Creek Rd., Amherst, NY 14228 800-877-1250
Sentrol 503-692-4052
Triad Safety Systems 4595 Airport Rd, Carney, NE 68847 308-236-7062
Recycling Resources for Essex County
NJ DEP E-Cycle Listserv
Need information on what electronic devices can be recycled in New Jersey? Need know where to take them? Will it cost you anything? Find out here!
Recycle Coach App
Have a recycling question? Don’t know if something can be recycled? The Recycle Coach has your answer!
NJ DEP Recycling Information
Have questions about New Jersey’s recycling and solid waste programs? Visit the NJDEP website for help.
Looking for a Recycling Market?
If you collect recycling from Essex County businesses and need information about source-separated
delivery locations, click here.