Woolwich Committee Authorizes Recyclebank
Contract
to Reward Residents for Recycling
by Beth S. Biermann
WOOLWICH – RecycleBank, a Philadelphia-based company, was
awarded a contract by the Woolwich Township Committee at their regular meeting
on February 21 for an incentive based recycling service.
The RecycleBank program, which rewards residents for the
amount of recyclable materials collected, is tentatively slated to begin
during the month of May.
Before the program starts, Woolwich residents will
receive delivery of a recycling container containing an imbedded barcode which
records the weight of the recyclables in each pick-up. RecycleBank will outfit
the trucks of Casworth Waste Services, the trash hauler serving Woolwich, with
the equipment necessary to weigh and record the recycling materials collected.
Residents who participate will receive “RecycleBank
Dollars” based on the weight of recyclables collected from their container.
These coupons will be redeemable at participating retailers including Acme,
ShopRite, Staples and possible local businesses to be determined at a later
date.
Credits will be capped at 35 “RecycleBank Dollars” per
month to prevent fraudulent behavior, such as placing non-recyclable materials
in the cans to increase the weight. All recyclables, including paper, plastic,
glass, tin, aluminum and metal, will be placed together in one container.
In other business, Sharon and Bob Dupper, Woolwich
residents, addressed the committee regarding their concerns about littering
along Township Line Road. Sharon, who claimed to be nicknamed “The Bag Lady”,
makes many efforts to pick up trash along the section of road between High
Hill Road and Center Square Road, but can’t keep up with it.
She said she is appalled at the amount and types of trash
that she finds, including full bags and buckets of trash, furniture,
appliances, and cases of empty beer bottles. Much of the trash ends up in the
wooded area and ditch at the corner of Township Line Road and Center Square
Road.
Woolwich Police Officer Michael Schaeffer has passed her
while she’s picking up trash and given her gloves to make the job easier, but
Bob Dupper urged the township to enforce littering fees in an effort to curb
the illegal dumping.
Mayor Joe Chila suggested posting signs informing the
public of the littering fees that will be incurred by anyone caught illegally
dumping trash. Township Solicitor Timothy Scaffidi stated that there is a
minimum $200 fine for littering.
Sharon Dupper added that at one time she found pieces of
paper containing names and addresses of Logan Township residents in the trash
she collected. When she contacted Logan Township, they required the residents
to pick the trash up but didn’t fine them. She concluded by stating, “We need
to catch more people doing this.”
The committee also presented proclamations to four
members of the PH58 committee. Theodore Lovell, Tom Beatty, Peter Palena and
Sam Leone were honored for their efforts that “resulted in the environmental
cleanup, reclamation and future redevelopment of the Nike Missile Site”.
The Nike Missile Site, also known as the PH58 facility,
is a former missile battery site located on Paulsboro-Swedesboro Road. The
U.S. Department of Defense used the site until its deactivation in 1966 and
abandonment in 1972.
Woolwich contacted the Government Services Administration
(GSA) in the 1990s to explore the possibilities of reclaiming the property in
an environmentally sound manner.
In 2003, Woolwich appointed the PH58 committee made up of
residents familiar with environmental contamination sites to continue the
township’s efforts at working with the GSA. As a result, the township will be
purchasing the property for $1 from the GSA and will designate the land as a
park.
After Chila read the proclamation that commended the
committee, he stated that the residents on the committee “turned the tide” in
the communications with the GSA, when it was no longer just the township
officials pushing for the site cleanup and reclamation.
Committeeman Paul Lott called the committee “an extremely
focused group of individuals” and the township should be “extremely proud for
what was accomplished with this group”.
Historian Ted Lovell said, “It’s been a lot of fun and a
lot of work.”
“For me, the biggest thing that will make it worthwhile
is the fact that we’re very soon going to have a park at the northern end of
the town that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” he added.
Lovell also added that it wasn’t until Chila appointed
the committee that he had some expertise backing him and “a committeeman that
gave us the support we needed to finally make a dent in the Government
Services Administration”
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