NEPTUNE Ten New Jersey businesses, organizations and individuals were recognized during the 38th annual Association of New Jersey Recyclers Symposium and Luncheon held Oct. 17 at the Jumping Brook Country Club in Neptune, Monmouth County. Among the award winners were Stockton University, Atlantic County Utilities Authority and the Sustainable Jersey organization.
The DEP commends the award winners for their work to promote recycling and educate their communities about the importance of diverting waste to better protect our natural resources, DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe said. New Jersey is consistently a national leader in recycling because of these kinds of efforts that go above and beyond to help keep our environment safe and clean.
The DEP and Association of New Jersey Recyclers each year co-sponsor the symposium and luncheon, where recycling awards are presented to outstanding businesses, organizations, local government agencies, and individuals who have made significant contributions to recycling in New Jersey.
Stockton University received the Institution Award: Stockton University recycles bottles, cans, paper and corrugated cardboard, food waste, wood, metal, tires, yard waste, concrete, cooking oil, motor oil, lamp bulbs and street sweepings. Stockton participates in the annual RecycleMania college campus recycling competition and achieved a 41 percent recycling rate for the 2017 competition. To reduce waste, the university created a Trading Post in February 2017 for students to trade or purchase gently used items. The school is also committed to purchasing recycled materials, composting materials and more.
County Utilities Authority received the Outstanding Educator/Educational Program Award: The authority is seeing tangible results from increasing usage of its website and social media to reach the community about recycling. The county recycling program has more than 5,500 followers across its social media networks, more than 2,400 blog views and more than 395,000 website views. The authority has established a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube. In addition, the authority promotes its program via Facebook Advertising and has founded two Facebook groups for those interested in recycling issues. The authority's recycling website also includes a live-chat feature for visitors to interact with customer service representatives.
Sustainable Jersey received the Leadership Award: In 2017, the nonprofit organization, which supports communities as they pursue sustainability initiatives including recycling programs, created a Gold Standard for the Municipal Waste Management action area, the largest of the organization's municipal program categories. Towns can only receive points in the sustainability process for actions that go above and beyond current regulatory recycling requirements.
To learn more about recycling in New Jersey, visit www.nj.gov/dep/dshw/recycling
