Though a vendor contract ended eight months ago, Red Bank’s public utilities department is continuing to collect plastic film waste for recycling, said Councilperson Nancy Facey-Blackwood.

That means Wednesday morning’s monthly pickup is still on, she told redbankgreen Saturday.

Councilperson Nancy Facey-Blackwood at Saturday’s inauguration ceremonies. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Under a one-year agreement entered in 2021 with consumer products giant S.C. Johnson & Sons, the program’s sponsor, Red Bank became the fourth New Jersey municipality to recycle plastic film. Hundreds of dedicated pails were given out to more than 500 homeowners who requested them.

Last year, more than two tons of the material was collected here, removing it from the household waste stream until it can be sold to a recycler, said Facey-Blackwood, who served as Environmental Commission chairperson before being sworn in as a council member.

Though the pilot program agreement has expired, the borough continued its townwide pickups on the first Wednesday of each month, she said. Amounts collected “kind of dwindled a little bit because there was some confusion as to whether the program was continuing or not,” she said. “But it’ll be back, bigger and better.”

Ocean Township will be joining the program, which already includes Matawan, Bradley Beach and Red Bank, she said.

Residents without the specially marked pails can put their plastic film curbside in bags. Acceptable materials include grocery bags; bread bags; food storage bags, including Ziploc bags; newspaper bags; bubble wrap; shrink wrap, including that used with multipacks of bottled beverages; and boat wrap.

All materials must be free of debris and other matter. Candy wrappers, multi-layer chip bags, diapers and feminine products should not be recycled.

Residents who miss the pickup canmay drop their plastic film at the recycling center on West Sunset Avenue between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m, Tuesdays through Saturdays.

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