Measure Cleared by Committee Monday
Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee Chair Nancy Pinkin (D-Middlesex) issued the following statement Monday after her bill (A-1514) to require all New Jersey State governmental agencies to source, separate, and recycle any aluminum, corrugated cardboard, glass, paper and plastic waste was advanced out of committee:
“The State House is the people’s house and the people want to recycle. On any given day, hundreds of advocates, activists, citizens, students, staffers and legislators use our state capital to do the people’s work. When they go to recycle the water bottles or cans that they purchased from our vending machines, or the coffee cup they grabbed on their walk over, there are few places to dispose of it properly.
“We are facing a crisis with the amount of trash our country is accumulating. As a society, we have changed our behavior to recycle as an instinct, and when the proper receptacle is not there, it’s counter-intuitive. We need to keep our personal use of plastic at the forefront of our minds and in the choices we make every day. It is scary to imagine the number of single use plastics that have been sent to landfills from our government buildings.”
Adequate receptacles, signage, information, education, and staffing at buildings owned, leased, or operated by State entities would also be requirements under provisions of the bill.
The measure now heads to the Speaker for further review.