RECYCLING: IMPROVING OUR ENVIRONMENT
Thanks to the cooperation of the people who live in Middlesex County, the MCIA and its 15 municipal partners operate one of the most successful recycling programs in New Jersey.

At 63.8%, Middlesex County has exceeded the state's 60% recycling rate for the eleventh year and was the state's #1 recycling county for four of those years, according to the latest report from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

People here understand that recycling protects the environment and saves taxpayer dollars, and they are willing to work together toward those two goals. Almost 100,000 households and small businesses participate in the MCIA curbside pick-up program.

Under state law, all 25 towns in Middlesex County operate recycling programs. In 1995, the MCIA created a shared-services partnership for curbside collection which offered municipalities savings and subsidies. To date, 15 towns are participating in the MCIA’s recycling program; the other towns elected to stay on their own.

Most municipalities participate in the MCIA’s yard waste program. The MCIA chips the brush and oversees the composting of leaves, but each individual municipality decides what material gets picked up and sets its own collection schedule.

All residents are encouraged to participate in the Household Hazardous Waste, Paint Drop-Off, Tire Recycling and Electronics Recycling collection programs offered by the MCIA, the Middlesex County Division of Solid Waste Management and the individual municipalities.

Since we began the recycling partnership in 1995, the MCIA and the residents of Middlesex County have:

• Surpassed the state’s recycling mandate eleven years in a row.
   
• Achieved the highest recycling rate in New Jersey for four years.
   
• Managed a recycling education program that has reached tens of thousands of children and adults and won The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award in Recycling.
   
• Won state and national awards for our Paint Drop-Off Program and overall effort.