Recycling is mandatory statewide under New Jersey's Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act (N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.11 et seq.). Every Middlesex County municipality must adopt a recycling ordinance requiring residents to separate designated recyclables, while the county coordinates programs and reports tonnage.
New Jersey mandates recycling statewide. Under N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.16, the governing body of each municipality must adopt an ordinance requiring persons who generate solid waste to source-separate designated recyclable materials, in addition to leaves, from the waste stream. All 25 Middlesex County municipalities therefore run mandatory residential recycling. The county's role, exercised through the Solid Waste Management Program and its county Solid Waste Management Plan / District Recycling Plan under N.J.S.A. 13:1E, is to designate recyclable materials, coordinate programs, run drop-off events and file the annual Recycling Tonnage Report with NJDEP. Residents must separate items such as paper, cardboard, glass, metal and designated plastics per their town's ordinance.
Failing to source-separate mandated recyclables violates the municipal recycling ordinance and is enforced by the town, typically with warnings then fines. The mandate itself flows from state law; the county coordinates compliance and reporting rather than issuing household citations.
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Middlesex County, NJ
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Middlesex County, NJ
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Middlesex County, NJ
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Middlesex County, NJ
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Middlesex County, NJ
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Middlesex County, NJ
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See how Middlesex County's recycling requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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