Worker on tap to ferret out recycling scofflaws BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP - Thinking about tossing that Pepsi can into the regular trash, Bunky? Think again. Starting March 19, a public works employee will be making sure you follow the rules when it comes to recycling. The employee, who will be transferred from the recreation department, has been permanently assigned to follow the recycling trucks on their routes and note which homes don't have any recyclables at the curb, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said. "We will basically know who is recycling and who is not," he said. Residents who are not recycling will be given educational materials to learn how, he said. "There are no fines," Pezarras said. "We find that education is the key." Whatever goes into regular residential bulk trash will eventually come out of taxpayers' wallets. The township pays the Ocean County Landfill $69.70 per ton to dump at the landfill in Manchester Township, he said. "People are getting a little lax," Pezarras said. "They are really throwing money out. We have to pay to dump it." The main culprit appears to be automated trash pickups, where residents are given a "robocan" for their trash. The large cans make it easy to hide items that shouldn't be in the garbage in the first place, Pezarras said. "We are being told by guys that drive our trucks that on any given day of 700 stops, there are 100 stops with no recycling," Pezarras said. The township is losing the recycling battle, Mayor Daniel J. Kelly said at a council meeting last month. "Frankly folks, we've been throwing away money," he said. That became painfully evident when public works employees found an engine block crammed into a residential garbage can earlier this year. The township spent $3,110,000 in tipping fees at the landfill in 2006 and received $79,280 in recycling rebates from the county, Pezarras said. Brick could recoup more in recycling rebates if the collection rate was higher, he said. "You can't quantify how much that loss is," Pezarras said. "Are we losing? yes. But you really can't quantify it."