CLIFTON

Recycling revenues have roared back for New Jersey towns. Here's why

Matt Fagan
NorthJersey.com

After a few dismal years, recycling revenues are streaming back and many towns across the Garden State are recouping more from their recycling — some dramatically. 

Clifton, for instance, had budgeted to collect $40,000 in recycling revenues for all of 2021. By July, the city was collecting more than $40,000 a month for its recyclables, City Manager Nick Villano said.

"We had anticipated (recouping) 10%," Villano said. "But now there's a lot more coming in."

Clifton's revenue may be up so much in part because, unlike many communities, the city never stopped requiring residents to sort its recycling, by type, glass, paper, metal, etc.  

"I am told we do well because our product is clean," Villano said. 

Columnist Joe Phalon remembers good times at the recycling center.

It was only in the last few weeks that the city stopped its requirement that residents separate glass by color.

The city also plans to pick up recycling every other week rather than once every three weeks after the first of the year.

The biggest money maker, Villano said, is cardboard, in part because more people have been ordering products online and having them delivered during the COVID pandemic. Plastic and aluminum have also fared well. 

Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi said the increase in payments helps offset the overall cost of recycling.

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The city spends about $1.7 million to operate its recycling program , covering everything from labor to insurance. At the current rate, money received for recycling materials as well as the annual state tonnage grant, about $140,000, could drive net costs down to $1.1 million. 

The market

A number of factors improved the recycling market for towns, said Marie Kruzan, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers,

"Demand is high," she said. "The mills need material."

The industry is just starting to recover from China's ban on most imported recyclables that took effect in 2018, because so many towns had switched to single stream recycling, which contaminated the recyclables with nonrecyclable materials. Under a single stream system, residents can combine paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastic in one container rather than separating them.

Some experts have said single-stream recycling increases the amount of material collected by up to 30% and provides more revenue to the towns that sell their recyclables. But given China's crackdown, some in the industry questioned the wisdom of having moved to a single-stream system. They say that so much garbage gets mixed in with the recyclables that it significantly reduces its value.

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With a shortage of truck drivers in the U.S., shipping costs have risen, so it makes more sense for towns to keep more of their recyclables local, especially on the East Coast, which is farther away from potential Asian markets. 

As a result, domestic mills are springing up, not in New Jersey, but in Pennsylvania and in the South. 

Rick Ramsay, of Atlantic Coast Recycling, among the bails of recyclable products in Passaic on Friday June 15, 2018.

Chris Riviello of Atlantic Coast Fibers said after China's ban and the market's resulting collapse in 2018 it took some time for things "to shake out." 

"Last year things got better and better and better," he said. But "the market can change on a whim," he cautioned. 

Atlantic Coast's collected recyclables are sold internationally and domestically, but he agreed that the new domestic plants are driving demand. 

While Clifton's recycling payments dwarf those of Fair Lawn, the municipality is also seeing a decline in recycling costs, said Ron Lottermann, its recycling coordinator. 

"Compared to last year we are paying less," Lottermann said.

In the first half of 2020 the market was miserable. Fair Lawn's monthly costs to operate its recycling program were $15,000 to $17,000. But as demand for collected recyclables started to rise, bringing in more money for the product, the net cost for Fair Lawn to collect recyclables declined significantly, to $1,600 a month.

A front end loaded is used to move the recycling material into the sorting area at Atlantic Coast Recycling. This is where residential curbside recycling ends up in Northern New Jersey at their facility in Passaic on Friday June 15, 2018.

The biggest issue that remains and continues to cost Fair Lawn  is that people are contaminating the recycling stream with plastic bags and other nonrecyclable material. When their recyclable stream is too contaminated, Fair Lawn gets hit with contamination fees, which can top $6,000 a month.

"People don't realize they are throwing their tax dollars away, " Lottermann said. 

Riviello agreed that towns could do themselves  a favor by having fewer contaminates in the waste stream.

"It's gotten better no doubt," he said, "but there's a lot of education that needs to be done."

Outlook

Kruzan said no one is sure how long the current increase in demand for collected recyclable material will last.

She said in the upcoming months new recycling plants will begin to come online, further increasing the demand for collected recyclables. 

She also said the recycling market has a seasonal aspect. Aluminum is at a premium in warm weather months. Demand for recycled cardboard will likely remain strong as we head into the Christmas season and people order even more products online for delivery.