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

Village of Ridgewood Code Chapter 165, Article IV, added in 1990, requires every owner, lessee, or occupant of residential, institutional, or commercial property, including places of worship and schools, to separate used newspaper and newsprint, mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, tin/steel cans, aluminum cans, glass, plastic containers, white goods, vegetative waste, ferrous and nonferrous metals, and construction and demolition debris from ordinary trash and garbage under Section 165-40. Section 165-41 spells out how each stream must be prepared: newsprint and mixed paper go in the Village's crates or bundles under 12 inches tall secured by twine, white goods and metals go to curbside collection under Village Manager regulations, glass and cans must be washed or rinsed and combined in approved recycling containers, corrugated cardboard must be free of trash and packing material, and household batteries must go to the recycling center or a Bergen County Utilities Authority hazardous waste event rather than curbside.

Construction and demolition debris must be separated and disposed of by a private contractor, commercial recycler, or the property owner, and Section 165-41 requires proof of recycling records before a certificate of occupancy issues. The Recycling Coordinator and Sanitation Enforcement Officer enforce the article under Section 165-47, and unauthorized parties are barred from collecting curbside recyclables because Section 165-44 makes them Village property from the moment they are set out.