In May, Township Council adopted an amendment to the municipal solid-waste and recycling ordinance that prohibits the use of plastic yard-waste bags. Beginning June 14, Cherry Hill’s residential waste haulers will only collect curbside lawn and tree debris in biodegradable paper bags or from an open-top receptacle.

By eliminating polyethylene-based plastic bags from weekly yard-waste pickups, the Township anticipates saving up to $100,000 a year on the costs associated with removing and disposing of the bags prior to recycling the natural debris. In addition, Cherry Hill will prevent hundreds of thousands of pounds of thick, black plastic from entering the waste stream and being burned at the incinerator or buried in a landfill.

Officials note that, as the Township does not have the capacity or legal permission from the state to process yard-waste within its borders, it is required that any landscaping debris collected from residents or on public land is sent to a farming facility that recycles it into new uses. Currently, tree or shrub fragments, twigs, leaves, and other dead vegetation placed curbside by residents once a week are collected and trucked to a farm in Gloucester County, where they are used in compost or mulch.

But, there is a cost associated with recycling the outdoor debris, according to Mayor Bernie Platt, and that expense goes up exponentially with every plastic waste bag that must be manually removed from the collection drop-offs.

“I am well-aware that many households use this type of disposable receptacle for their yard waste. I’m also aware that the impending prohibition of plastic yard-bags will require a change in buying habits for many people,” Platt said. “However, significantly lowering the cost of disposing of our yard waste furthers several of my administration’s top priorities, and we consider it a win-win.”

The ordinance has earned the support of both the Cherry Hill Environmental Advisory Committee and Sustainable Cherry Hill for the significant impact it is expected to have on the number of large, unrecyclable plastic bags entering the region’s waste stream.

Also applauded by both groups is language in the amendment formally urging residents to leave their grass clippings out of the residential yard-waste stream entirely. Township officials contend that a typical lawn generates about 75 pounds of clippings per mowing – a costly “natural fertilizer” to throw away, as the municipality pays by volume for yard-waste recycling. According to Platt, “the cost-saving benefits speak for themselves.”

Please call the Mayor's Office with questions or concerns about this change to the Township's yard-waste collection practices at (856) 488-7878.