Community Corner

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: A Guide to Recycling in Union County

Since today is Earth Day, here's a simple guide to remind you of what you can recycle and where around Union County.

We’ve all heard it time and time again: reduce, reuse, recycle.

While you may remember to recycle your every day milk carton or soda can, there are proper ways of recycling many other items you have in your home.

The County of Union offers information on recycling these items and we’ve compiled a simple list of what you can recycle and where in Union County.

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Happy Earth Day!

 

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Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

While all fluorescent bulbs can be disposed of at all Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days listed below, compact fluorescent bulbs can be disposed of at Home Depot in the following locations in Union County:

977 W Grand Street

Elizabeth, NJ 07202

200 South Avenue

Garwood, NJ 07027

West Edgar Road

Linden, NJ 07036

Route 22/930 Springfield Road South

Union, NJ 07083

2445 Springfield Avenue

Vauxhall, NJ 07088

 

Electronic Equipment

Have an old fax machine you’re looking to get rid of or an old dinosaur of a computer just sitting in your closest, taking up space?

Well, you can recycle a variety of electronic equipment on May 21 at Union County College in Cranford or October 22 at Alcatel-Lucent Technologies in New Providence from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Items that will be accepted include: hard drives, phones, televisions, CDs and DVDs, circuit boards, fax machines, CPUs, keyboards, modems, monitors, printers, speakers, scanners, VCRs and video cassettes.

Items not accepted are: microwaves, air conditioners and white goods.

 

Household Special Waste

There are three collection dates coming up, including:

  • June 11 at Alcatel-Lucent Technologies in New Providence
  • August 6 at Union County V-Tech in Scotch Plains
  • October 29 at Rahway Park in Rahway

Items that will be accepted for proper disposal from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. include: Antifreeze, aerosol cans, caustics, corrosives and cleaners, fire extinguishers, batteries, gasoline, fluorescent bulbs that are not broken, motor oil and oil filters, truck and automobile tires, thermostats, pool chemicals, solvents and thinners, pesticides and herbicides, oil based paints and varnishes and mercury switches.

 

Medication Disposal

Do you have medications that you no longer use that are just sitting in your medicine cabinet?

“National Take Back Initiative” will take place on April 30, 2011.

Numerous sites throughout Union County will be collecting your unused, unwanted medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in New Providence, Summit, Mountainside, Fanwood, Springfield, Scotch Plains, Plainfield, Westfield, Garwood, Kenilworth, Cranford, Clark, Roselle and Linden.

To find the nearest site to you, search with your zip code on the website for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Diversion Control. 

 

Paper Shredding

Worried about your identify being stolen? Do you have a lot of confidential documents that you need destroyed?

There are several dates and locations for safely disposing of your important documents, all taking place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Only residents of Union County may participate and businesses are not permitted.

  • April 2, Union County College in Cranford
  • April 15, Cedar Brook Park in Plainfield
  • May 7, Alcatel-Lucent Technologies in New Providence
  • May 18, Union Public Works in Union
  • June 9, Rahway Park in Rahway
  • June 25, Union County Vo-Tech in Scotch Plains
  • August 13, Kean University in Union/Elizabeth
  • September 15, Linden Recycling Center in Linden
  • September 24, Union County Vo-Tech in Scotch Plains
  • October 22, Alcatel-Lucent Technologies in New Providence

 

Propane Tanks

While propane tanks can be disposed of at the Household Special Waste Collection days listed above, you can also dispose of them at the following locations:

Taylor Retail Center in Berkeley Heights ($6 fee, plus tax for dropping off. If you buy a new tank, no fee)

Wayside Garden in Summit ($10 fee)

Synergy Gas in South Plainfield ($10 fee)

Propane Filling Station in Rahway (must refill your tank or purchase a new one)

If you just need to exchange your propane tank, Home Depot can help you out at the following locations in Union County:

977 W Grand Street

Elizabeth, NJ 07202

200 South Avenue

Garwood, NJ 07027

West Edgar Road

Linden, NJ 07036

Route 22/930 Springfield Road South

Union, NJ 07083

2445 Springfield Avenue

Vauxhall, NJ 07088

1515 Route 22

Watchung, NJ 07069

 

Smoke Detectors

While the County of Union does not offer any service to dispose of your used smoke detector, you can mail it back to your appropriate manufacturer, marked “for disposal.”

For Code One/Firex/Maple Chase Products, mail to:

2820 Thatcher Road

Downings Grove, IL 60515

For Dicon Products, mail to:

3334 Main Street

Skokie, IL 60076

For First Alert/BRK Brands, mail do:

3920 Enterprise Court

Aurora, IL 60504-8132

 

For more information on recycling, visit the County of Union’s website.


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