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Politics & Government

West Deptford Receives $59,000 Recycling Grant

The state Department of Environmental Protection issued the grant to West Deptford to help further enhance the town's recycling program.

The Department of Environmental Protection will be giving a recycling assistance grant of just over $59,000 to West Deptford for the number of recyclables collected in the township during 2010. The announcement was made by state Senate President Steve Sweeney, Deputy Assembly Speaker John Burzichelli and Assmeblywoman Celeste Riley on Monday.

The grants, which totaled nearly $480,000 within New Jersey's Third Legislative District, are incentives to municipalities who collect the most recyclables. The grants are issued based on the total tonnage of recyclables that each municipality reported to the state during 2010. West Deptford received the second-largest grant in Gloucester County.

The DEP grants began with the passage of the Recycling Enhancement Act in 2008. The grants come from a recycling tax fund that was established with the new law. It issues a $3 per ton surcharge for trash that is disposed at solid waste facilities. The grant money that is issued to each municipality must be used to help further promote and enhance its own recycling program. A total of approximately $13.1 million was issued to municipalities across that state.

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“Communities that work hard to encourage recycling save more than the environment, they also save money,” Sweeney on Monday. “They not only save money by sending less to landfills, they also gain because of programs like this. When the state partners with our communities to promote sustainable programs like recycling, we all win.”

Click on the following links for more information on the Recycling Enhancement Act and for more recycling statistics and figures.

Find out what's happening in West Deptfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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