Press Release
Contact: Frank Bradley
Phone: 908-851-8500
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1:00P.M.. EDT, October 28, 2009
TOWNSHIP OF UNION’S RECYCLING HITS RECORD HIGH
TOWNSHIP OF UNION, UNION COUNTY, N.J. Mayor Anthony Terrezza and Commissioner of Public Works Brenda Restivo announce that today the Township of Union Public Works Department’s recycling program shows that is working. A recently released state recycling tonnage report, addressed today at the Union County’s recycling coordinators meeting, held today in Scotch Plains, the Township of Union received the highest tonnage within the county and the largest grant award.
“We were not expecting the same numbers…. a little higher maybe…. because we have really stepped up the enforcement,” said Mayor Terrezza. An impressive total of 68,110.30 tons of materials were removed from going to a landfill translating into a $ 99, 649.49 in grant funding. “That’s more than double the $ 45,000 we had received at our last higher report”. Commissioner of Public Works Brenda Restivo added “All of our programs from our participation in Sustainable Jersey, talking to industrial generators on route 22 corridor to our Public Works speaker’s bureau going to neighbors association to neighbor associations helped in this”.
Additionally, Business administrator Frank Bradley stated that the money that the township will receive is only a portion of the savings. “This means that we went to the landfill or incinerator with fewer Tons (materials) and with a $ 105.00 per ton fee to dispose the waste, an additional cost was not passed on to the taxpayer”. “The Township of Union should be proud of this achievement, kudos to the Public Works Department and their program…we beat much larger town such as Elizabeth, just their larger area and population (as compared to Union) should have won...” – he ended.
The Public Works department stated, “Our next challenge will be residential compliance.”- said Public Works Superintendent Sergio Panunzio, “We want to be corrective and not punitive in educating our residents”.
He attributed the success of this program to Mayor Terrezza and Commissioner Restivo who have launched the “2009 Green Initiative” back in January 2009. “The support of everyone with this program has been sensational… from department heads supporting us with data to our administrator… you know ….it’s not popular for elected officials to support a program that may impose fines …but as they always said…it’s the right thing to do… and today their support as paid off” he ended.
The Department of Public Works is planning for even more enforcement and educational events this spring.
The money is distributed by the New Jersey State Department of Environmental Protection based on tonnage and a formula, which calculates the removal of material from the Municipal Waste Stream. The money was released yesterday by the DEP in Trenton and should be received by the Township as early as next week. Grant expenditures can only be applied to recycling purchases by the township or enhancing an existing recycling program
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