Most pizza boxes have recycling symbols on them and are usually made of corrugated cardboard. They are recyclable as long as they are not tarnished with food or grease. Remember, REMOVE THE TAINTED PORTIONS and recycle the clean parts of the pizza boxes along with your other cardboard waste.

Styrofoam/Polystyrene

Fanwood’s curbside recycling program does NOT accept Styrofoam or plastic grocery/produce bags. It never did. If you’ve been putting those items in your blue curbside recycling bin, please STOP! Instead, Fanwood residents may take Styrofoam and plastic film bags to the Westfield Conservation Center on Lambert’s Mill Road across from Tamaques Park. There is no charge for this service. The Conservation Center is open during specific days and hours. You’ll find all the info including specifics on the types of Styrofoam and plastic film accepted on their website. Although the website says you have to be a Westfield resident, rest assured that Fanwood residents CAN use this facility.

While we’re talking about plastic bags, you should not place recyclables into plastic bags before placing them in the blue bin. Plastic bags of any kind are not recycled by our vendor and they clog the machinery at the processing plant. Plastic bags should only be taken to the Westfield Conservation Center or to the special receptacles at supermarkets or retail stores.

Recycling a Plastic Shopping Bag

Recycling contamination is a big problem in New Jersey, and plastic bags are among the worst offenders. Contamination happens when items that don’t belong in your home’s recycling bin are placed there. Unfortunately, too many of us put our recyclables in plastic bags to recycle them, and that’s a bad thing. In New Jersey, plastic shopping bags are recyclable—but NOT in your curbside bin. When they get into your municipality’s recycling stream, they can clog up or damage recycling center processing equipment the way hair clogs up the rollers of a vacuum. This causes delays and slows down the recycling process, making it more expensive for your community to recycle. Other stretchy plastics, such as produce and bread bags, dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves, paper towel/toilet paper over wrap and other plastic film packaging can also clog up recycling processing equipment. These stretchy plastics should not be placed into your curbside recycling bin.

So how do you properly handle all those plastic bags? Visit info.recyclecoach.com/please-properly-recycle-that-plastic-shopping-bag to find out.

You may bring clean, dry plastic bags, bubble wrap and other types of plastic film to the Fanwood Public Works Department, Manfra Way off North Avenue across from the library. Hours for drop off are 9am to 12pm, M-F. It’s a good idea to call ahead, 908-322-7404, to make sure someone is there to accept them. Beginning in January, plastic film bags may be brought to the Fanwood Recycling Center, North Avenue and Westfield Road, on the first Saturday of the month, 8-11AM.

In order to ensure a high-quality recycling stream, 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.

After residents bring their plastic film to the DPW, it is consolidated and shipped to Trex, which will use it as raw material in their facility in Virginia. More information about Trex is available at trex.com.