State to recycle garbage surcharge

State officials Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of former Gov. Thomas Kean's signing of the mandatory recycling law. At one time, New Jersey was the leader in recycling, separating 67 percent of the glass, plastic, metal and paper that once ended up in landfills. By 2004, the last year for which information is available, the state was only recycling 34 percent of its trash. That puts New Jersey in the middle of the pack nationally.
Between 1987 and 1995, Ocean County ranked third in the state, recycling 72.5 percent of its refuse. In 2004, it recyled just 28.0 percent of its trash, ranking it 15th statewide. Monmouth County's recycling rate fell from 63.8 percent between 1987 and 1995 to 39.6 percent in 2004. It now ranks 5th statewide.
The state is hoping to get the rate over 50 percent again by reinstating a $3 surcharge on every ton of garbage collected by haulers that will be used to fund recycling programs. The surcharge was dropped in 1997.