Township Committee to Examine Curbside Recycling

The Chatham Township Committee plans to examine their municipal curbside recycling program at the Thursday night meeting.

Currently the township uses the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA), which requires residents to sort their recycling into bottles and cans in a single container and paper products in another container. Only No. 1 or 2 plastics can be recycled.

In June, Kathleen Hourihan, district recycling coordinator of the MUA, told the committee that the MUA wanted to offer single stream recycling to Chatham Township. 

Single-stream recycling, in which residents can put all their recyclables into one container without sorting, has been a topic of discussion in the township for several months.

The committee said they would consider getting single stream recycling if the cost was reasonable. Hourihan said the MUA would like to try single-stream recycling for the rest of 2011 and the first half of 2012, at a 10 percent cost reduction.

During that time, the MUA would evaluate its processes and identify its efficiencies before coming back to the township with a four-year contract.

Single-stream recycling, in which residents can put all their recyclables into one container without sorting, has been a topic of discussion in the township for several months. “Last fall, the Girl Scouts came to us with the results of surveys they had done, and we learned a lot about how Chatham recycles.  Many people were recycling items that you didn’t yet accept. We were actually over-recycling,” Mayor Nicole Hagner said at the June 23 meeting.

Also on the agenda is a resolution to approve a one-day liquor license application by the Chatham Emergency Squad for a September event.

The Chatham Township Committee meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the .