Talking trash could lead to savings, mayor says
Anti-littering campaign also started; targets businesses, motorists
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer

BRICK TOWNSHIP - The township is looking for someplace else to take those discarded sofas, chairs, refrigerators and other bulk trash that residents lug to their curbsides for pick-up each month.

"The township wants to save as much money as possible because of the budget problems," Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said. "We are looking at every single expense item or possible source of revenue."

Brick currently pays between $100 and $105 a ton to dispose of noncompactible trash at the Ocean County Landfill in Manchester Township, he said.

"We've found other companies that will do it for $80 to $85 a ton," Acropolis said. "We are looking at any way possible to get sustainable revenue sources, either by selling it or reducing the cost of what you have to pay."

Brick officials have already talked to a Tinton Falls private recycling company that takes bulk trash, Acropolis said.

"It's got to go out to bid," he said.

Some countries overseas, like China, have a shortage of trees, which leads to a wood shortage, the mayor said.

"They are buying up scrap paper, wood, anything they can pulverize and make into renewable products," Acropolis said.

The noncompactible trash is picked up by the township public works department and is first taken to the "hill," a recycling facility on Ridge Road, where it is stored before being trucked to the Ocean County Landfill.

The township trucked 4,482 tons of bulk trash to the county landfill in 2000, at a cost of $63 a ton. That number jumped to 10,614 tons at $101.14 a ton in 2007, an increase of nearly $800,000.

The township could save upward of $20 a ton, which could result in a savings of $150,000 to $200,000 a year, Acropolis said.

Taking bulk trash someplace other than the Ocean County Landfill would not conflict with the county's Solid Waste Management Plan, the mayor said.

"Our garbage trucks go to the Ocean County Landfill," Acropolis said. "The county takes glass, cans and bottles. This is not any of that."

State Department of Community Affairs Director Joseph V. Doria Jr. recently told municipal officials not to continue to rely on property taxes to fund local government services and to focus on sources of renewable energy, Acropolis said.

"Every year, the price to use the county landfill goes up," the mayor said. "Yet, we keep going there because that is what we have always done. We cannot afford to keep doing what we have been doing, not when we can be saving taxpayer dollars."

In a related matter, Acropolis said the township has begun a stepped-up anti-litter campaign in town that includes sending notices to businesses that need "a little extra prodding" to keep up their properties.

The township code enforcement department and special police officers will also be watching for motorists who litter, the mayor said.

"If you drive through Brick Township and you throw a cigarette out your window, expect to get a summons," Acropolis said at the March 25 Township Council meeting. "It's a quality of-life issue. It's a matter of pride in our community."