Kennedy School wins paper recycling contest; school district recycles 43 tons of paper

NORTH BERGEN – Kennedy School won North Bergen’s second annual Paper Recycling Contest with a total of 16,840 pounds of recycled paper. North Bergen schools recycled more than 86,000 pounds of paper in total, or 43 tons. All of the paper will be recycled rather than sent to a landfill, which will not only help the environment but will also generate revenue for the township in recycling tonnage fees.
“Paper recycling is vitally important for both conservation and to help ease the burden on North Bergen taxpayers,” said MUA Executive Director Frank Pestana. “While the MUA and the township must pay dumping fees on garbage, we actually receive money in recycling tonnage fees on paper. Thus, every piece of paper that gets recycled instead of thrown out in North Bergen saves our taxpayers real money.”
The contest was sponsored by the North Bergen Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) and the Board of Education. The MUA will be treating Kennedy School students to a victory party in September to recognize their achievement and will also be donating a Smart Board to the school.
“I would like to congratulate the students at Kennedy School, their environmental coordinator Joyce Cuervo, and all the students and faculty members throughout our district for their efforts in promoting paper recycling,” said Mayor Nicholas Sacco. “Many people still don’t know that nearly all kinds of paper can and should be recycled and that’s why it’s important to hold events like this contest to raise awareness and promote recycling in our community.”
According to the MUA, over 34 million tons of paper that could be recycled ends up in landfills every year throughout the country. This leads to more unnecessary consumption of natural resources. In fact, each ton of paper that is recycled instead of thrown away saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, and enough energy to heat an average home for six months.
Both the Board of Commissioners and the MUA are urging all North Bergen residents to join the paper recycling effort by making sure to recycle their mail, folders, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books, scrap paper, tissue boxes, and clean cereal and food boxes. To see more information about recycling and check pickup schedules, visit nbmua.com/recycling/.