Recycling Division

The Fair Lawn Recycling information is now available on your phone. Download the RECYCLE COACH app from your phone's app store. It's free, easy and in the palm of your hand.

Check out this Public Information Notice from Mayor Kurt Peluso and Recycling Coordinator Ron Lottermann on what residents should and should not be placing in their commingle recycling bins.

Thank you Wayne Robbins for your assistance.

UPDATE: October 1, 2018 - You can now put wax coated (gable top) cartons and plastic tubs, such as margarine containers, in the bottles & cans recycling. See the flyer in the column to the right. 

Introduction:

The Recycling Division is responsible for planning, implementing and educating residents about the recycling program, overseeing the contractor collecting the recyclables, recycling enforcement, clean communities program implementation and overseeing the garbage contractor. In 2017, the Recycling Division recycled 11,975.39 tons of materials and a recycling rate of 50%, one of the best in the State of New Jersey.

Recycling Collection

Cali Carting is the Borough contractor doing the curbside collections five days a week based on the town being divided into five sections.  There is a second collection per week from the first full week of June through the last week in August. With the exception of changes due to holidays, the recycling and garbage collection days are as follows:  

 Plastic Bags & Container Regulations:

Due to stricter regulations at our recycling markets we are no longer able to take plastic bags or unacceptable materials with paper or commingle. Please separate these items from your recycling to ensure collection. See the special information on the right side banner.

Paper may be placed out in a barrel if it displays a blue decal or in paper bags if they are secured to prevent being windblown and commingle must be in the Borough barrel or the container display a red decal. These decals are available free of charge from the Recycling Division. Call 201-794-5341 or 
e-mail recycling@fairlawn.org to obtain one.

All recycling and garbage containers must be smaller than 40 gallons in size and have a tight fitting lid or have the contents secured in such a way as to prevent blowing on windy days. Containers that are over sized or over 40 pounds in weight will NOT be collected.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Mandated Materials:

The following items are required to be recycled by law. Placing recycling in the garbage costs Fair Lawn taxpayers in not only lost revenue from the sale of the recyclables but also the added expense of the garbage tipping fees.

Paper: (New 2018 Regulations)
Newspaper, magazines, junk mail, cardboard boxes, chipboard (cereal and food container boxes, copier paper, office paper, soft cover books, hard cover books (with the hard covers removed) and shredded paper. NO food contaminated items (such as pizza boxes) or wax coated boxes or cartons. 


The Recycling Division offers "blue" decals for residents to place on a sturdy container between 5 and 40 gallons for mixed paper collection. The decals are available in the Recycling office, calling 794-5341 or e-mail to recycling@fairlawn.org.

Bottles & Cans (Commingle): (New 2018 Regulations)
Glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans, aluminum foil, tin cans, plastic jars, bottles, jugs and tubs (such as margarine) and wax coated (gable top) containers. All food must be washed from the materials. 

The Recycling Division offers "red" decals for residents to place on a sturdy container between 5 and 40 gallons for bottles & cans collection. The decals are available in the Recycling office, calling 794-5341 or e-mail to recycling@fairlawn.org.

Yard Waste:
Grass, leaves, brush, branches (less than 3 inches in diameter and less than 3 feet in length) and Christmas trees (ornaments must removed, including tinsel). Remember to tie the branches.

Backyard Composting:
Residents are encouraged to reduce as much waste as possible to help reduce the costs of garbage disposal. One of the ways residents can reduce waste is by backyard composting. Download the BCUA composting flyer (pdf) to get started.

Scrap Metal, Appliances and Electronics:
The Recycling Division will collect these items at he curb with an appointment (201-794-5341). Refrigerators (state law requires doors to be removed. Glass / plastic shelving and drawers are garbage), stoves, washers, dryers, dishwashers (metal tubs only. Plastic tub machines are garbage), bed frames, water heaters (with plumbing inspection sticker), air conditioners, boilers, bicycles, BBQs or any item that is at least 50% composed of metal. Electronics includes television (projection and console TVs are garbage), computers, monitors, cell phones, printers, VCRs, DVD players and video game consoles. DO NOT CUT THE CORDS OFF TELEVISIONS OR OUR RECYCLING MARKET WILL NOT ACCEPT THEM.

Specialty Items

Hazardous Waste: (Paints, chemicals, etc.)
The Fair Lawn Recycling Center does not accept any hazardous materials. These items include, but are not limited to, propane tanks, paint, pool chemicals, insecticides, herbicides, or any chemical or chemical container. Residents may bring these items to the Bergen County Utilities Authority household hazardous waste collections. View their 2018 collection dates. As an alternative, residents may bring their hazardous waste to the Morris County Utilities Authority. More information can be found at their website. 

Plastic Toys:
Through our cooperation with Second Chance Toys, the Fair Lawn Recycling Center is able to accept plastic toys for donation. These toys are given to underprivileged children, including those in battered women's shelters. We must adhere to Second Chance Toy's regulations for acceptable materials:

- The toy cannot fit through or into a toilet paper roll.
- Toys must be CLEAN.
- Toys must be in WORKING ORDER and COMPLETE. No missing pieces and fresh batteries installed.
- Toys must be plastic only. No cloth components.

The following items are NOT ACCEPTED:
- stuffed animals
- car seats
- bouncy play seats
- strollers
- board games
- broken or unusable toys.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs: 
CFL (compact fluorescent bulbs) and the long fluorescent bulbs are not permitted to be disposed of in the garbage. They are considered a household hazardous waste and must be disposed of through a proper collection program. The Fair Lawn Recycling Center does NOT collect these bulbs. You can bring them to the BCUA Household Hazardous Waste collection days or check with Home Depot and Lowes who have some stores that accept them. For more information on CFLs visit the US EPA website. 

Smoke Detector Disposal: 
The most common type of smoke detector used in residential homes contains a minute amount of radioactive material. Although the amount of radioactive material contained in these detectors is so small that it does not pose a risk to human health, they may not be disposed of in the garbage. You can check with the place of purchase or the smoke detector manufacturer to see if they will take the detector back through a mail in program. Santa Barbara County, California has provided a flyer with options for smoke detector disposal that is very useful.

It is our understanding that Kiddie/Firex will accept smoke detectors from all manufacturers. You can mail your detector to them at: 

Kiddie / FIREX Safety Division
Attn: Alarm Disposal
1016 Corporate Park Drive
Mebane, NC 27302

Tires:
The Recycling Center will accept rims from residents only, not businesses. The tires must be off the rims and a fee of $1.00 per car tire is charged. See the attendant at the recycling center for payment instructions. Exact change or a check made out to the Borough of Fair Lawn are the only methods of payment.

Used Clothing:
The Recycling Center has bins for the donation of used clothing. The Recycling Division does NOT give receipts for donations. Clothing must be in usable condition.

Recycling Center / Office Hours:

The Recycling office is located at 20-05 Saddle River Road, where all recycling business is now conducted between the hours of 7:00 am and 3:15 pm, Monday through Friday. Be advised that the Recycling Coordinator may be doing work on the road and the office may be unattended periodically during these hours.

The recycling center accepts only residents and businesses from Fair Lawn, NJ. All others are prohibited from utilizing the recycling center with the exception of dropping off plastic toys for the collection program.

The Recycling Center is open as follows:

Landscaper Leaf Dump Permits:

• Landscaper Permit Application
• Landscaper Dump Slip Form

Loose leaves that fall within the 10' right of way may be raked out into the street during the designated collection dates. The Road Division is responsible for the loose leaf collection program and queries regarding the program should be directed to 201-794-5304. Their collection schedule is posted and updated on the Borough website main page under the news section.  

Business Recycling:

Construction Materials:

The Recycling Center will accept small amounts of construction material from a resident for a fee. Dump tickets must be purchased from the Department of Public Works, located on the second floor of Borough Hall. Each ticket is $50.00 each and must be turned in at the time of dumping.  Regular passenger cars require 1 ticket, anything larger, including SUVs, vans or pickup trucks require 3 tickets per drop off.  A car with a trailer requires 2 tickets per drop off. 

Construction material options are listed in our one page flyer.  

Recycling Barrels:

Cancellation of Curbside:

Additional Resources:

http://Recyclingnj.com provides practical and straight-forward advice for how New Jersey citizens can reduce the amount of waste their households produce, with simple tips for waste reduction or reuse that do not require dramatic changes in lifestyle. It also gives suggestions for alternative ways for reusing some of the items residents might otherwise discard. Additionally, it provides information about additional recycling options that are not available through your local authority, but have been created by private businesses and charity groups, for the collection or redistribution of specific waste items, often at little or no expense to your constituents.

Earth 911: http://earth911.com is a privately owned, for-profit company that specializes in providing consumers with accessible and actionable recycling information across the country. Its Recycling Directory is very comprehensive. It contains information for recycling over 240 different products. The Directory is free for consumers to use on the website, through the toll-free and bilingual hotline (1-800 CLEANUP) and with the free iPhone application (iRecycle). Earth911.com lists over 127,000 locations and programs that people can search in the directory to find local recycling and disposal resources. The information provided through the site’s directory, editorials and resources represents only fact-based, informational and useful content.  

Ink & Toner Cartridges: Several companies will accept ink and toner cartridges for recycling. Some will pay directly for the items while others will give store credit. Check with local or national office supply stores to see their policies and what is easy and beneficial for you.

Donate / Give Away: Instead of throwing away items that still have some useful life in them, consider offering them for free through www.freecycle.org. You can post your item and receive e-mails from people who will come and pick it up. Other organizations such as Goodwill may also take some items to resell in their stores to finance their programs.