There is a robust recycling program in Mercer County! Every 2 weeks, on Tuesdays in the Hopewell Valley, Mercer County Improvement Authority (MCIA) sends trucks to collect our recyclables. Recycling reduces waste by converting materials into new items. There are three pillars to best practices in waste reduction; Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Together these pillars help reduce the loss of potentially valuable materials and keeps reusable materials out of our landfills. All these actions contribute to environmental stability.

Here in Mercer County we are “single stream.” That means that all our recycling can be mixed together- no sorting is necessary! In your yellow or green buckets you can place paper, cardboard, books, glass, cans, milk and detergent jugs, juice boxes/ cartons, and any #1 or #2 plastic. The number is found in a triangle with arrows, usually on the bottom of the container. Look carefully- sometimes it’s hard to find. If you have more recycling than fit in your can(s) you can put it out on the road in a recyclable cardboard box.

Any non-recyclables that make it into the stream can ruin an entire batch of recycling. So be careful! Some of the items that are not allowed but are sometimes found in recycling bins are pizza boxes (not even if it looks perfectly clean!), plastic bags, plastics #3- #7 (including yogurt containers!), and some types of paper, like paper towels, napkins, tissue paper, and waxed paper. If any of these items are in the recycling, the trucks can not pick it up and may skip your house entirely. More specific information can be found at https://www.hopewelltwp.org/199/Curbside-Recycling.

Lately, due to staffing and heat issues, some recycling stops have been missed. If your recycling wasn’t collected, please leave it out. MCIA will usually come the following day. If it is still not collected the next day, you can call MCIA Recycling at 609-278-8086. You can also call our Recycling Coordinator, Joy Arena in Public Works, at 609-537-0250, with questions or concerns.