Mahwah Earns $45K Recycling Grant
The township's cut of $13.1M in statewide grants is based on its recycling efforts in 2010
Mahwah is set to receive over $45,000 in grant money from the state thanks to the township’s recycling efforts in past years. The grant is part of $13.1M given out statewide through the Recycling Enhancement Act, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced in a release Monday.
According to the release, the grant is funded by a $3 per ton surcharge on trash disposed at solid waste facilities. Local governments receive 60 percent of the money the fund generates to help enhance recycling outreach. The rest goes toward county waste management systems and hazardous waste collections.
Mahwah Business Administrator Brian Campion said the grant, which he expects to receive within the next two weeks, can only be used to cover specific expenses.
“A portion is used for education about recycling, especially to school children,” Campion said. “The funds are also used to support the costs of the recycling program.”
In 2010, 9.8 million tons of municipal solid waste was generated in N.J. About 40 percent of that, or 3.9 million tons, was recycled, the release said. The state is urging all towns to reach a 50 percent recycling rate.
Mahwah received the sixth highest payout amount of the municipalities in Bergen County that got grant money this year. Here’s how Mahwah’s payout, based on the amount of recycling collected in the township in 2010, compares to other nearby municipalities:
|
Town |
Amount Received |
|
Mahwah |
$45,577 |
|
Ramsey |
$44,638 |
|
Carlstadt |
$79,063 |
|
Wyckoff |
$28,151 |
|
Paramus |
$67,747 |
|
Waldwick |
$15,788 |
|
Oakland |
$29,565 |
Statewide, the highest grants awarded this year are to Newark at $299,903, Jersey City at $278,748 and Paterson at $238,701.
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Andy Schmidt
10:01 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Maybe the grant money can be used to educate the school board - the kids seems to be getting it! If some of it is used to teach children about recycling - and we have kids use bins to reycle paper, cans, etc. - can the township / environmental commission please coordinate with the school board that at the end, all those dutifully recycled/seperated bins are not simply emptied in the SAME huge generic trash dumpster behind the schools? Otherwise this grant money is wasted.
Can the grant money be used to educate the school board and the town council about the benefits (including financial benefits) of solar energy? We have many huge square footage of flat top roofs with few trees blocking sunlight from the South.
Gordon McIntire
4:45 pm on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Andy,
I could not agree with you more, it is a shame the kids do all the separating just to have it go to the dump!
The schools need to get their act together on recycling!
nativemawah
8:01 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
That is what would happen if our town goes to single stream . All the paper and glass get put together and it becomes garbage because they can't get the glass out of the paper.