Recycling
Recycling Schedule to change January 1, 2023
Effective January 1, 2023, Giordano will be picking up recycling in Berkeley Heights on Wednesdays and Thursdays instead of Mondays and Tuesdays. The new schedule and pickup sections of town below.
The "East" side streets will be picked up Wednesday and Thursdays in the same week, while the "West" side streets will be picked up the following Wednesdays and Thursdays. Each "side" gets picked up every other week. Please see the schedule below and take note of the town streets included in each section (list further below).
Please ensure your recycling is in containers with tops to prevent items from getting wet. Scroll down to see what is acceptable and not acceptable. Please note that plastic bags full of recycling will not be picked up. Thank you for your cooperation.
Drop Off your Thin-Plastics at DPW (first Saturday of the month)
Berkeley Heights residents can now empty their homes of saved thin-film plastic and easily recycle their loads! Drop-offs are the first Saturday of every month, from 9 am-12noon.
As part of a new Union County recycling initiative with Trex Company, Ind., the Union County Board of County Commissioners launched the free service this month. The new plastic film recycling program is the first countywide plastic film recycling effort to launch in New Jersey.
The Commissioner Board is partnering with the firm Trex, the world’s largest manufacturer of high-performance, low-maintenance composite decking and other outdoor living products made from recycled materials.
The program launched with an initial cohort of 12 municipalities: Berkeley Heights, Fanwood, Cranford, Elizabeth, Hillside, New Providence, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Westfield and Union. Berkeley Heights residents can drop off their plastic at the DPW yard, adjacent to Town Hall, at 101 Berkeley Avenue.
Information about locations and scheduling is available on the Union County website at ucnj.org/recycling/plastic-film and on the free Recycle Coach app for mobile devices.
Most of the participating municipalities will accept clean, dry plastic film from any Union County resident, regardless of their hometown. Please note that the drop-off locations in Fanwood and Summit are not accessible to non-residents at this time.
In order to protect the recycling stream from contamination, only the following items are accepted:
From the store: produce bags, store bags, and ice bags
From the pantry: Ziploc and other re-closable bags, cereal box liners, case overwrap (for example a case of bottled water), and bread bags
From the front door: newspaper sleeves, bubble wrap, and plastic e-commerce mailers
As a reminder, only flexible plastic film may be recycled through this program. No clamshells, casings, containers or other hard plastic items are accepted.
The Berkeley Heights thin-film plastic initiative that was suspended during COVID had residents dropping off their plastic at designated locations throughout Berkeley Heights; volunteers would then bring the loads to ACME in New Providence for recycling. That program was wildly popular, thanks to the Berkeley Heights Environmental Commission and our residents' enthusiasm for recycling. This new initiative picks up where that left off, and eliminated the need for volunteers to drop off the loads of plastic for recycling.
Download the Recycle Coach App
Residents should download Recycle Coach, a free app from Union County designed to help make recycling and solid waste information more accessible and engage the public in the principles of “Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.”
Recycle Coach provides accurate, up-to-date information on Union County’s recycling events as well as local recycling schedules in a handy, user-friendly mobile format. The County has partnered with all 21 Union County municipalities on this initiative and are working together to boost participation and improve recycling rates countywide.
The app provides personalized collection schedules based on place of residence. Once a resident downloads Recycle Coach, their calendar will list Union County recycling events along with local curbside garbage and recycling schedules. The app will advise if there are changes in local collection due to holidays or weather.