Piscataway, NJ Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 22-2.3 establishes a mandatory separation program covering steel cans, plastic containers, mixed paper, textiles, brush, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, aluminum cans, glass containers, leaves, motor oil and, for commercial sources, high-grade office paper. Section 22-2.4 tells residents exactly how to sort it: newspaper and corrugated cardboard must be bundled and tied at the curb in stacks no taller than 12 inches, glass containers, aluminum cans, plastic containers and steel cans go commingled in a commingled container, and textiles must be bagged separately in a textile bag before they hit the curb.

Multi-family buildings with five or more units, schools and other institutions instead deposit recyclables in on-site containers when the Recycling Coordinator directs it. Commercial, office and industrial generators may propose an alternative program to the Recycling Coordinator for approval, and until that approval comes through they must keep following the standard rules. The Township's Recycling Coordinator, under § 22-2.5, supervises the program and can promulgate additional regulations, while the Township Council may contract out collection. Residents who need a replacement or additional 95-gallon wheeled cart pay a fee matching what the Middlesex County Improvement Authority charges the Township for that cart.

Section 22-2.6 makes it a separate violation for anyone unauthorized by the Township to collect or pick up recyclable materials that have been set out, a rule aimed at scavengers competing with the Township's own haulers. Businesses can also apply for a source-separation exemption if a licensed transfer station or materials recovery facility handles the sorting instead, but existing exemptions expire on March 31 every three years and must be renewed with fresh documentation.