New Jersey County Joins Curbside Value Partnership

The Aluminum Can Council and Burlington County, New Jersey, freeholders hope to increase curbside recycling participation among county residents as the Aluminum Can Council's (ACC) Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) begins working with the county on a campaign to educate residents on the benefits of curbside recycling.

The ACC says selected Burlington County for the partnership because its recycling program is already ranked one of the best in the state.

"We have three central goals for this partnership," says Steve Thompson, director of Recycling Initiatives for the ACC. "We want to increase participation in curbside recycling throughout the county, we want to see more bins on the street and we want to see residents more diligently recycling the valuable portion of what goes in that bin, including aluminum cans and newspaper."

Burlington County Recycling Coordinator Ann Moore says, "We already have a strong curbside recycling program in Burlington County. However, research shows there are still a large number of households that are not recycling for many reasons such as not having access to recycling buckets.” Moore adds that the partnership with the ACC will identify the barriers that currently hinder participation in the curbside recycling program and will provide access to resources that could help to increase participation rates.

The partnership will involve countywide communications to residents with an added focus on five communities where bin usage and promotion will be heightened. Additionally, the ACC will co-fund the purchase of new recycling containers and will provide public relations, marketing and logistics resources to the county to help disseminate recycling messages and to measure their effectiveness.

The CVP also has announced a strategic partnership with the Association of New Jersey Recyclers (ANJR). Following the successful implementation of the Burlington County campaign, the ACC and ANJR will work together to roll-out a statewide recycling education program.

The Curbside Value Partnership was created to increase residential participation in local curbside recycling programs and make curbside programs more profitable and sustainable. Current CVP partner communities include Kansas City, Mo.; Brevard County, Florida; Indian River, Fla.; Denver; Orlando; and Dallas.