(above) The Trex bin at the Berkeley Heights Library, one of the more popular bins in town.
Berkeley Heights passes the 10,000 Pound Milestone
Submitted by The Berkeley Heights Environmental Commission
Just before December 31, 2019, the Berkeley Heights community passed the 10,000 pounds mark for the amount of thin film plastics contributed to Trex bins around town.
The Trex bin program, an award-winning effort that the Berkeley Heights Environmental Commission (BHEC) launched back in June 2016, has gained momentum over the year-and-a-half period it has been in place and shows no sign of slowing down. Generally, this program currently entails siting a Trex bin at a particular location, having people drop off their thin film plastics in these bins, and having a group or business responsible for weighing on a regular basis all of the thin film plastics in a particular Trex bin and shuttling these plastics to ACME in New Providence. From there, the thin film plastics then embark on the next step in the recycling process before they ultimately are sent to Trex’s Virginia-based facility for recycling and repurposing into the outdoor furniture Trex produces.
Now, with a total of 10,472.1 pounds collected as of January 8, 2020, the BHEC is asking residents to consider this achievement and its implications.
“We’ve collected over five tons of thin film plastics. That’s approximately the weight of two African elephants,” said Kim Diamond, BHEC member and Chair of the Berkeley Heights Trex bin program. “The amount of plastics we’ve gathered as a community is incredible, yet it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the total amount of thin film plastics waste that everyone in town generates. Now that the BHEC has taken the first step of heightening residents’ awareness of our plastics consumption, we need to take the next step in the process by having residents reduce their plastics use.”
Indeed, the Trex bin collection program has been a true community effort. During the first year of the program, in addition to the BHEC, members of the following groups assisted with collecting the plastics from all Trex bins in town: Berkeley Heights Historical Society, Berkeley Heights Recreation Department, Berkeley Heights Rotary Club, Girl Scouts Tiger Unit (Girl Scouts from different troops and of all ages in Berkeley Heights), Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center, Mountain Park Elementary School, Sandy Hook Promise, and Scout Pack 268.
As the Trex program entered its second year, the following businesses and groups each graciously “adopted” one of the Trex bins around town (as specified after their names below), so that they possess permanent collection responsibility for that bin: Church of the Little Flower (two bins at Little Flower), Laurianne Tussel-Holsten and Vincent Cirincione of RE/MAX Achievers (Library bin), Master Gardeners (Pet Supplies Plus bin), Smith Chiropractic (Taylor Rental bin), Township of Berkeley Heights Administration (Police Station bin), Berkeley Heights Township Council (Police Station bin), and Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts (Wharton Arts bin).
To incentivize groups, Trex sends one of its high-end outdoor benches to those groups who collects 500 or more pounds of thin film plastics within a six-month window. This means that one group can “earn” a total of two Trex benches during two consecutive six-month periods. This also means that numerous Trex benches will be installed in Berkeley Heights soon.
The BHEC encourages all Berkeley Heights residents to use the Trex bins at the locations above to recycle their thin film plastics. The BHEC also asks residents to participate in the “Reduce Your Use” campaign it launched last year. According to Diamond, “Behavior modification and breaking life-long habits can be challenging. Nevertheless, people can embark on this journey by foregoing their use of just one plastic bag each week. If everyone makes a small behavioral change in their thin film plastics consumption, over time, this will be a great collective step forward for our community.”
The BHEC suggests two easy ways people can start reducing their thin film plastics use. First, bring at least one reusable bag with handles when going food shopping. This will reduce the number of plastic bags they need at their point of purchase. Second, when shopping for fruits and vegetables, bring re-usable fruits and vegetable bags that can be used in place of the single-use plastic bags traditionally used to gather these items and bring them to the point of purchase.
For additional information about the BHEC’s Trex thin film plastics program, including a list of acceptable items for recycling and other news articles, please visit berkeleyheights.gov/379/Recycling-Thin-Film-Plastics.
