FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2004
Contact:
Teresa Ruiz
973-621-4404
Anthony Puglisi
973-621-2542
ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO AND NJDEP COMMISSIONER
CAMPBELL ANNOUNCE PLANS TO EXPAND POPULAR COLLECTION
PROGRAMS
Additional Days Planned for Household Hazardous Waste
and Computer & Electronics Collection Programs
Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. and Bradley Campbell,
Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, will announce plans
to expand Essex County’s successful Household Hazardous Waste and Computer & Electronics
Recycling Programs. The County Executive also will kick off a campaign to raise awareness
about Essex County’s recycling efforts.
“The household cleaners, pesticides, fluorescent bulbs and electronic equipment that we collect
through our Household Hazardous Waste and Computer & Electronic Recycling Programs
contain dangerous chemicals and lead that can be detrimental to our environment and drinking
water supplies if they are not disposed of correctly,” the County Executive said. “These items,
especially the computers, also can be very heavy, and increase the cost of garbage collection
because of their size and weight. By hosting these collection days and expanding our collection
schedule, we will save our municipalities money,” he noted.
Jerome St. John, Chairman of the ECUA Board of Commissioners, emphasized that the most
effective way to prevent toxic chemicals and lead from contaminated the air and water supply is
to remove them completely from the solid waste stream and disposing of them properly. “This is
an important environmental issue,” the Chairman said. “Let’s get hazardous material out of our
waste stream so we don’t have pollution problems in the future,” he added.
The New Jersey DEP is assisting Essex County in its efforts by providing an $858,670 grant from
its Solid Waste Service Tax Entitlement Spending Plan. This is more than double the $419,000
that the Essex County Utilities Authority received last year.
"By funding Essex County and other counties, we continue to support important recycling and
solid waste programs that improve New Jersey communities," said DEP Commissioner Bradley
M. Campbell. "Recycling provides clear environmental benefits to the state that include
significant reductions in energy use, air emissions and water pollution," he added.
“Joe D. is an ‘Environmental County Executive,’ and our goals match Joe’s vision for a clean
environment,” the Commissioner stated. “Together, we are taking common sense steps to keep
toxins out of our waste stream and from the lungs of children and families across the state,” he
added.
The additional funds from the DEP will enable Essex County and the Essex County Utilities
Authority to host two Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days and two Computer and
Electronic Recycling Days.
The schedule is as follows:
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Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, Saturday, May 1st at the Essex
County Department of Public Works Fleet Maintenance Garage in Cedar Grove
Computer & Electronic Recycling Day, Saturday, May 15th at South Mountain
Arena in West Orange
Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, Saturday, October 2nd at the Hall
of Records in Newark.
Computer & Electronic Recycling Day, Saturday, October 16th at the Essex
County Fleet Maintenance Garage in Cedar Grove.
The grant also will pay for an advertising campaign to promote the expanded recycling program,
provide support for maintaining Essex County’s Solid Waste Management Plan followed by the
22 municipalities in Essex County, and reimburse the ECUA to implement the Solid Waste
Management Plan, to enforce the Solid Waste Plan, to plan coordinate activities between solid
waste facilities, municipalities and the State, and to conduct a bulk survey with the municipalities.
“Our Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day has grown in popularity over the last 10 years
and our first Computer & Electronics Recycling Day last year was a huge hit that surpassed our
expectations,” DiVincenzo said. “Last year I asked the ECUA to expand our recycling efforts,
add extra recycling days and have collections in both suburban and urban locations. Our residents
have shown they are willing to recycle and this will allow us to provide them with more
opportunities,” he added.
The Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program was started in 1994 and more than one
million pounds (546 tons) of waste has been collected over the 10 years the program has been
conducted. The program has grown in popularity and has almost doubled the annual amount of
waste collected and the number of people participating. In 2003, 1,501 people brought material to
be recycled and a record 71 tons of material was recycled. In 1994, 885 people participated and
42 tons of material was collected.
When it first started, the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program was held several times
a year in suburban and urban locations. The cost of the program caused the ECUA to scale back
the number of collection days to one per year at one location, the Essex County Department of
Public Works Fleet Maintenance Yard in Cedar Grove.
Essex County residents are able to bring pesticides and herbicides, paint thinners, oil-based paint,
chemistry sets, anti-freeze, motor oil, household cleaning fluids, photograph developing
chemicals, propane tanks, fluorescent light bulbs, products containing mercury and household fire
extinguishers to the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day.
The Essex County Computer & Electronic Recycling Program was held for the first time last year
at two locations at the Essex County Fleet Maintenance Garage in Cedar Grove and the Essex
County Hall of Records in Newark. The recycling program was a success with 533 people from
all of Essex County’s 22 municipalities participating and 55 tons of material were recycled.
Essex County residents are able to bring computers, monitors, keyboards, printers, VCRs, fax
machines, telcom equipment, televisions, CD and DVD players, toasters, irons, typewriters, copy
machines and microwaves to the Essex County Computer and Electronics Collection Days.
Essex County also will be collecting used cellular telephones during the Computer & Electronics
Recycling Days. The cell phones will then be donated to the Regional School – Essex Campus, a
State-run school for handicapped students. The PTA of the Regional School sells the phones to
raise money to purchase equipment that is used by the students.
DiVincenzo visited the school on February 11th when the Essex County Division of Corrections
donated cell phones that were left behind by inmates after they were released. The County
Executive promised to help the school and use the Computer & Electronic Recycling Program as
a vehicle to collect cell phones.
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