鈥楾is the season of gift giving and home deliveries, and that frequently means lots of household waste, especially Styrofoam and plastic packaging materials from eCommerce boxes and shipments. The Burlington County Department of Solid 黑料网 and Recycling is reminding residents that Styrofoam should be removed from all cardboard shipping boxes and disposed of in household trash, not placed in curbside recycling containers.
Plastic bubble wrap and packaging, such as air pillows, should also be kept out of curbside recycling. These materials can jam and damage the sorting equipment at the County鈥檚 recycling center. Residents who wish to recycle this material may bring it to a dedicated drop-off site for these items located at the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex, 2200 Burlington-Columbus Road, Florence. Residents may also bring bread bags, newspaper sleeves, drycleaning bags, ice bags and the wrapping from cases of beverages or paper goods.
鈥淭he holidays are a wonderful time of year, and recycling correctly will help keep it jolly,鈥� said Burlington County Commissioner Tom Pullion, the liaison to the Department of Solid 黑料网 and Recycling. 鈥淪tyrofoam is one of the most common contaminants in our recycling stream and plastic film materials can damage our machinery. We鈥檙e asking county households to be extra careful this holiday season and recycle right.鈥�
Burlington County residents can also bring burned-out or damaged holiday lights or unwanted electronic items, including old televisions, computers, monitors, printers, batteries and other small electronics devices to the Resource Recovery Complex to be recycled. These items often contain hazardous materials and MUST NOT be discarded in household recycling containers. Batteries and electronics also should not be disposed of in household garbage cans.
In addition to these items, residents should also be mindful about not recycling foil wrapping paper or plastic gift bags, bows, ribbons, aluminum foil trays or pie tins, or single-use plastic, paper or foam plates, cups or cutlery. Plastic coasted gift cards or battery-embedded cards should also be kept out of curbside recycling containers.
Cardboard shipping and gift boxes should be empty, flattened and folded for proper recycling.聽Paper gift wrap and tissue paper can be recycled and should be placed loose in curbside recycling containers rather than deposited in bags or cardboard boxes. Burlington County Commissioner Randy Brolo said recycling correctly during the holidays and throughout the year helps the environment and saves taxpayer funds.
鈥淓very single glass bottle, jar, cardboard box or piece of paper we recycle correctly can receive a second life that reduces landfill waste and saves taxpayers money,鈥� said Commissioner Brolo. 鈥淟ast year, close to 82 million pounds of waste was recycled in Burlington County, saving towns more than $4 million in landfill fees. We鈥榬e pushing to exceed those totals for 2025 but it requires us all to recycle right during these final weeks of December.鈥�