Burlington County now allows pizza box recycling. Does your South Jersey county?

The Burlington County Commissioners recently revealed a new recycling initiative: pizza boxes can now be collected as part of the county’s curbside recycling program.

When announcing the new initiative, Burlington County Commissioner Deputy Director Tom Pullion called it a “gamechanger for cardboard recycling.” Nationwide, more than 3 billion pizzas are sold annually, amounting to more than 600,000 tons of corrugated cardboard, the county said in a release.

“For decades, we’ve been forced to toss millions of pounds of cardboard into our landfill annually. Now, we can give those pizza boxes a second life,” said Pullion, the liaison to the Department of Solid Waste and Recycling. “This will not only save space in our landfill but will save taxpayers’ money by helping to keep their municipal solid waste fees low.”

Pizza boxes are made from the recyclable material corrugated cardboard, but many counties throughout the state restrict how they can be recycled. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection states that grease-stained pizza boxes and those that still contain food waste cause problems in the paper recycling process. Due to this, some counties’ recycling centers don’t accept pizza boxes at all.

Gloucester County allows for pizza boxes to be recycled, said George D. Strachan, executive director of the Gloucester County Improvement Authority.

“Gloucester County residents can and should recycle pizza boxes,” Strachan said in an email. “Just like glass jars ought to be rinsed out before being placed in recycling containers, it is preferred that a pizza box is not covered in grease and mostly free of food waste."

Camden County’s recycling facts explains that as a rule pizza boxes should go in the trash, but that if the box is completely clean, with no food or oil residue, it can be recycled in the curbside mix.

The Atlantic County Utilities Authority states that no pizza boxes are accepted in recycling; Cumberland County states that pizza boxes and other cardboard takeout and deliver food boxes cannot be accepted due to grease, oil and food residue contaminate the paper stream going to the recycling facility and Salem County’s website also says that pizza boxes are unacceptable for recycling.

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Some municipalities have recycling programs specific to that municipality.

How to properly recycle a pizza box

Burlington County created the first regional recycling program in the state and collects recycling from all of its towns without charging a fee on either towns or property owners for the service, the county said.

Last year, more than 84 million pounds of recyclables were collected, saving local towns more than $3.7 million in landfill tipping fees, it said.

“That’s direct property tax relief and an example of the kind of smart and efficient shared services this County promotes and participates in,” Pullion said. “We believe collecting pizza boxes will further boost our recycling numbers and help save towns and their taxpayers even more.”

To properly recycle pizza boxes, empty and clean the boxes of any food, wax paper or lining before placing them in a curbside recycling container. Boxes may have a small amount of grease but no other food residue on them.

Burlington County residents can download Burlington County’s free Recycle Coach app for more information and tips on how to recycle correctly. It also provides updates and alerts about collection schedules for each town.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Burlington County allows pizza box to be recycled now