Dive Brief:
- Monmouth County, NJ’s new recycling effort combines training of municipal officials with funding to promote greater participation in recycling. The Monmouth County Recycling Stimulus Initiative recently awarded grants to two municipalities.
- Keyport, NJ and Matawan, NJ were awarded $6,000 and $10,000, respectively. Keyport’s funding will go to buy and donate books on recycling to the Central School Library, to host a paper shredding event, and to buy a recycling receptacle for Keyport Borough Hall. The funding also will help Keyport buy more recycling containers for the town.
- Matawan’s $10,000 grant will help pay for construction of a new recycling center. The county recycling initiative is intended to increase recycling rates throughout the county.
Dive Insight:
In many areas, government funding of recycling is considered essential for the practice of recycling to grow. Monmouth County’s recycling initiative is a little different than other government funding of recycling, since each town must meet with the county’s Reclamation Center staff to assess recycling efforts in the town. Town officials seeking funding through the initiative had to attend three Municipal Recycling Coordinators meetings, as well as up the recycling rate by at least 2% in their city.
