def #3 01/13/10
NEW BALER AND ELECTRICIAL UPGRADES TO BENEFIT RECYCLING
TOMS RIVER – A new paper baler and substantial electrical upgrades at Ocean County’s Northern Regional Recycling Center,
Lakewood, will help usher in changes to the county’s recycling program making it more convenient to residents and
municipalities.
“We are taking all the necessary steps to convert our current recycling program into what is known as single stream
recycling. This will allow our residents to put all their recyclables - from aluminum cans to newspapers - in one
container for collection,” said Freeholder Director James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the county’s recycling
program. “The electrical improvements will allow us to install the new baler and single stream equipment.”
The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders on Jan. 20 is expected to approve the purchase of the new paper baler from
RRT Design and Construction, Melville, N.Y., at a cost of $584,075. In addition, the board is scheduled to award a
contract to Fai-gon Electrical Contractors, Piscataway, for electrical work in the amount of $178,395.
“Both projects will be paid for by revenue generated from the sale of recyclables at the facility,” Lacey said. “The
county’s recycling program continues to come with economic and environmental benefits.”
Ernest Kuhlwein, Ocean County’s Director of Solid Waste Management, said another benefit of the new baler is that it will
generate bales that meet export standards.
“The export market for paper currently pays more than the domestic market,” Kuhlwein said. “By exporting the material,
the revenue generated from it will pay off the new baler within the next two years.
“This provides us with greater marketing options,” he said.
The new baler also increases the number of bales that can be made per hour. The new baler and electrical upgrades are
part of the larger changes being made at the recycling center in order to allow the county to process recyclables in a
single stream.
“We believe these upcoming changes will result in greater participation in recycling by our residents,” Lacey said. “We
have come from sorting everything and placing it at the curb to soon being able to put it all in one container for
curbside collection.”
In order to accommodate the future changes to recycling, work is continuing at the Ocean County Materials
Processing Facility on New Hampshire Avenue in Lakewood to retrofit the facilities in order to accept the single stream
of recyclables.
Detailed design and building engineering has been completed. New equipment fabrication is underway and application has
been made for building permits.
Demolition on the existing paper sort room and related equipment at the northern recycling center also has been
completed. Building modifications are underway in anticipation of the new equipment.
“We are very excited about implementing this new recycling procedure,” Lacey said. “We have always said by making the
program convenient more and more people will get into the habit of recycling. This change makes the program as convenient
as it can be.”
“All the materials will go in one bin and we will do the sorting when it comes to the county’s regional recycling
centers,” Lacey said.
Municipalities will determine when they will implement the change and advise their residents, Lacey said.
“We are working with the towns keeping them apprised of our progress,” Lacey said. “We are looking at April as the
potential target date to kicking off the new collection.”
Lacey noted the changes will complement the ongoing recycling programs run by the county including paint management and
shrink wrap recycling.
“The single stream recycling will increase efficiencies especially for the large towns that already use the robo-trucks
for trash collection,” Lacey said. “Single stream recycling can be picked up like daily trash is, and only a driver is
needed on the truck.
“With single-stream recycling, collection will be more convenient for our residents and more efficient for the towns that
are collecting the material,” Lacey said. “We believe this change will help boost our recycling rates and that is good
for the environment and the economy.”
Lacey noted that since the county began operating the materials processing facility in Lakewood in 1991, 1,324,140 tons
of materials have been processed resulting in a total savings of $95,549,942 by avoiding the tipping fee at the landfill.
“That is a significant saving,” Lacey said. “This new collection system should increase that tonnage along with the
savings.”
