You may be curious to know exactly where your trash from your recent project winds up. People ask me all the time, “what do you do with that stuff?”. Here in Ocean County, we use the county designated landfill. Your rubbish is dumped on top of a high mountain of trash and then it is crushed and mixed with the debris from other containers.
That debris is buried daily and more rubbish is piled atop the debris from the previous day. This creates a huge mountain of trash that towers over 100 feet above sea level. I can tell you that from the top of that hill, I can see as far as Barnegat Township, Lakewood Township, Toms River (Holiday City), Rt. 37 all the way to the Garden State Parkway. It is quite an impressive view from the top and at sunrise, it can be quite a pretty picture.
In Monmouth County, we use one of several Transfer Stations to dispose of debris. These sub-stations are a collection point for many different sources. The debris is comingled, packed into large tractor trailers and shipped out of state. Surprisingly, there is little difference in the rate charged by either disposal facility with the transfer station costing slightly more per ton. Transfer stations set their own rate per ton based upon their final disposal cost so costs can vary.
Further, if you are doing other types of projects, your debris may be recycled. For example, broken concrete is crushed, and pulverized into tiny particles. This mix is called R Blend. It is put under new roadways to keep the asphalt from sinking and sagging. Tree debris is chipped up into wood chips which can be turned into energy or given to the public as mulch. Leaves are composted and turned into topsoil. Metal is melted and recycled as well.
There are many waste streams and many different ending points for your debris. Recycle what you can and dispose of what you must. Celebrate the Earth! Recycle!
Be safe, be well and most of all BE HAPPY!
Dale Olander
President
D&D Disposal
(732) 341-6900