Municipality of Princeton, NJ Mandatory Source Separation of Recyclables

Princeton hereby adopts this article to provide recycling within its borders pursuant to the Recycling Act adopting herein the Mercer County Recycling Plan as its official municipal recycling program.

All municipal contracts for solid waste collection and/or disposal within Princeton shall be consistent with this article and the Mercer County Recycling Plan.

Princeton shall provide for a collection system for leaves generated from residential premises within the municipal boundaries, for certain scheduled time periods, and, unless leaves are stored or recycled for composting or mulching by the generator, place the leaves in the Joseph P. Maher Ecological Center in Lawrence Township.

Princeton may deliver tires to Mercer County Improvement Authority's Solid Waste Transfer Station, or such site as designated by the Mercer County Improvement Authority, for transfer to a tire recycler.

(5)

Princeton shall, at a minimum, within 30 days after the adoption of this article and at least once every six months thereafter, notify all persons occupying residential, commercial, and institutional premises within the municipal boundaries of recycling opportunities, and the source separation requirements of this article and the Mercer County Recycling Plan. In order to fulfill the notification requirements of this subsection, this municipality may, in its discretion, place an advertisement in a newspaper circulating in the municipality, post a notice in public places where public notices are customarily posted, include a notice with other official notifications periodically mailed to residential taxpayers, or any combination thereof, as the municipality deems necessary and appropriate.

(6)

Princeton shall, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.16(c), within 30 days of the effective date of this article, and at least once every 36 months thereafter, conduct a review and make necessary revisions to the master plan and development regulations adopted pursuant to P.L. 1975, C. 291 (C. 40:55D-1 et seq.), which revisions shall reflect changes in state, county and municipal policies and objectives concerning the collection, disposition and recycling of designated recyclable materials.

The revised state plan shall include provisions for the collection, disposition and recycling of recyclable materials and recycling of designated materials in this article, and for the collection, disposition and recycling designated recyclable materials within any development proposal for the construction of 50 or more units of single-family residential housing or 25 or more units or multi-family residential housing and any commercial or industrial development proposal for the utilization of 1,000 square feet or more of land.

(b)

Residents:

On and after the official commencement date of the County Recycling System within Princeton, each person residing in areas designated for recycling collection, shall separate for curbside collection on designated collection days and such additional days as may be designated by the Mercer County Improvement Authority, those materials designated in the Mercer County Recycling Plan as listed below; and shall do so in the manner as set forth in this article.

All residents shall recycle, or cause to be recycled, at a minimum, the following categories of recyclables:

Acceptable glass containers;

Acceptable metal containers;

Acceptable plastic containers;

Acceptable mixed paper;

Corrugated cardboard;

Covered electronic devices.

Office paper and other paper;

Tires;

White goods; and

Leaves.

Any and all persons having been found to have violated the provisions of the Princeton Recycling Plan will be assessed warnings, penalties and fines pursuant to Section 15-4.7a. of this article.

At the time of placement of recyclable materials designated for collection by the Princeton Recycling Plan at the curb or streetside of residential units, said materials shall be considered the sole property of the Mercer County Improvement Authority and shall be considered a conscious contribution by that resident to the County Recycling System for collection by the Mercer County Improvement Authority or its agent.

(5)

Any resident within Princeton may donate or sell designated recyclable materials to any person, whether operating for profit or not-for-profit, provided that the receiving person may not perform curbside collection under any circumstances unless that person has registered with the Mercer County Improvement Authority as a private recycler.

(c)

Commercial, industrial and institutional establishments:

All commercial, industrial, and institutional establishments located within Princeton shall recycle, or cause to be recycled, at a minimum, the following categories of recyclables:

Acceptable glass containers;

Acceptable metal containers;

Acceptable plastic containers;

Acceptable mixed paper;

Corrugated cardboard;

Covered electronic devices;

Food waste as defined within N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.122, as may be amended;

Office paper and other paper;

Tires;

White goods; and

Leaves.

All commercial/industrial/institutional establishments located within Princeton shall submit a source separation recycling plan to the Mercer County Improvement Authority to meet the state recycling mandates identifying or incorporating the following:

All solid waste material generated, listed by type;

All volumes of these waste categories currently recycled;

Any agreement with any solid waste hauler or with a separate entity for the recycling of source separated designated materials as defined within the Mercer County Recycling Plan; and

A description of current or proposed recycling efforts for designated materials.

The schedule for submittal of these commercial/industrial/institutional recycling plans to the Mercer County Improvement Authority shall be as follows:

All commercial/industrial/institutional establishments whose waste is collected by private haulers and not serviced by municipal collection shall prepare the plan within four months of enactment of this article and shall implement same within two months following approval of the plan by the Mercer County Improvement Authority; and

All commercial/industrial/institutional establishments whose waste is collected through a municipal collection system shall be part of the municipal collection system of recyclables.

All commercial/industrial/institutional establishments required to submit a recycling plan under this article may, at their option, prepare a joint recycling plan with any other entity or entities whereby a common hauler and/or collection point, for common pickup, is set forth. However, each commercial/industrial/institutional establishment shall prepare a plan identifying that they are part of this joint plan and shall attach a copy of same, incorporating it by reference.

(5)

Any such commercial/industrial/institutional recycling plan shall be consistent with those terms, conditions and goals set forth in the Mercer County Recycling Plan and this article. The failure to submit said plan or comply with same shall subject the commercial/industrial/institutional establishments to penalties pursuant to Section 15-4.7b. of this article.

(6)

An extension of the time for plan preparation and/or plan implementation of up to 90 days may be requested from the Mercer County Improvement Authority depending upon the size of the establishment. Justification for such a request shall be submitted to the Mercer County Improvement Authority in writing and shall be verified as necessary or justified.

(7)

Pursuant to Mercer County Recycling Ordinance No. 2006-19, upon failure of a commercial/industrial/institutional establishment to meet the source separation recycling provisions of this article and/or the source separation and recycling provisions of the Recycling Act, if not exempted pursuant to subsection c.8 as described below, the Mercer County Improvement Authority shall provide said recycling service, and all fees and costs for providing said recycling service shall be assessed at rates to be established by the Mercer County Improvement Authority through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and Mercer County's Solid Waste Franchise; and penalties shall be assessed as provided for in this article.

(8)

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99-16 of the Recycling Act, this municipality shall have the right to exempt persons occupying commercial and institutional premises within the municipal boundaries from the source separation requirements of the article if those persons have otherwise provided for the recycling of the recyclable materials designated in the Mercer County Recycling Plan from solid waste generated at those premises. This municipality shall annually submit to the Mercer County Improvement Authority a list of those commercial/industrial/institutional establishments requesting exemptions under this subsection and the results of its determination with an explanation for said action. To be eligible for an exemption pursuant to this subsection, a commercial or institutional solid waste generator shall annually provide written documentation to this municipality and the Mercer County Improvement Authority of the total number of tons recycled. Persons occupying commercial and institutional premises exempted under this subsection shall not be exempted from the reporting provisions of subsection c.3. as described above.

(d)

Private Recyclers:

Any person or group of persons wishing to collect recyclable materials shall register with the Mercer County Improvement Authority as a "private recycler."

No private recycler shall conduct recycling collection activities within Princeton on designated county collection days.

Upon registration each private recycler shall receive an identification/registration decal from the Mercer County Improvement Authority and shall prominently display same on recycling vehicles when collecting recyclables within Princeton.