New Jersey recycling official criticizes state’s new waste management plan

A New Jersey recycling official has denounced the state’s new Solid Waste Management Plan, which officials hope will increase recycling efforts in the state. According to an article in the Herald News, Al Du Bois, vice chairman of the Passaic County Solid Waste Advisory Council and recycling coordinator for the city of Clifton, N.J., says that the new plan, which will force cities to pay the state for the amount of garbage they produce, does not address the causes of the state’s current recycling rates. Instead, Du Bois says that the packaging industry should create more environmentally friendly products.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey currently recycles about 32 percent of its recyclable waste. Under the new plan, the state will set a recycling goal of 50 percent and will begin issuing a $3 tax to municipalities for each ton of garbage produced, the paper says.