Normal Recycling Resumes For Cinnaminson, Burlington County

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Recycling in Cinnaminson is set to be collected on Wednesday, as Burlington County is returning to its normal recycling schedule, according to officials.

“Collection dates for the week of July 12 will return to the normal recycling collection schedule,” the township said on its website. The Burlington County Recycling Hotline has a recorded message that indicates the same thing.

In Cinnaminson, this means recycling is scheduled for Wednesday, July 14. An updated recycling schedule for the county can be found here.

“It’s well-known that the national driver shortage has created real and significant challenges for Burlington County and numerous other counties, municipalities and businesses across the nation, and the impacts on our county’s recycling program were frustrating," the Burlington County Board of Commissioners said in a prepared statement on Tuesday. "We are encouraged by the progress made by our nonprofit recycling vendor to recruit and train new drivers and are pleased to report collections have been back on a normal bi-weekly schedule for the last two weeks without any additional major delays. This did not happen by accident, and we’d like to thank the drivers from the Burlington County Bridge Commission and our own Burlington County Division of Roads and Bridges for their willingness to step up and assist with collections while the OTC worked to bring in replacements for the drivers they lost. Without them, OTC would not have been able to restore collections to a regular schedule nearly as quickly."

Cinnaminson is currently accepting recyclables (cardboard, paper, glass, aluminum cans) at the Public Works Facility, located at 1601 Union Landing Road.

The township has set up four 8-yard containers that are available at all times, and a 30-yard container that is available from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Read more here: Next Recycling Date In Cinnaminson Tentatively Set For June 30

In the spring, multiple recycling truck drivers left the Occupational Training Center of Burlington County for other employment, according to county officials.

This left the nonprofit that collects and sorts the county's recyclables severely shorthanded, county officials said. Read more here: Burlington County Recycling Hit Hard By Truck Driver Shortage

In June, Burlington County announced that it was training truck drivers from its Division of Roads and Bridges on how to drive recycling trucks amid the ongoing truck driver shortage that is severely impacting collections.

It also entered into a shared services agreement with the Burlington County Bridge Commission to allow commission drivers to collect recycling, officials said. Some of those drivers remain as temporary drivers, according to Burlington County spokesman David Levinsky. Read more here: Burlington County Taking Steps To Fix Recycling Issues

“The county’s recycling contractor, the Occupational Training Center (OTC) has been aggressively hiring to solve the recycling delay issue over the last few weeks,” a message on the county’s website reads. “If you do have overflow recyclables, consider using your local municipal recycling dropoff. Please check your municipality’s webpage for current hours and location.”

The Occupational Training Center specializes in training and employing individuals with disabilities. It has run the county's recycling program since 1982.

Nationwide, the shortage of over-the-road drivers is at its highest level in 15 years, according to the Solid Waste Association of America, which blames the shortages on an aging workforce, occupational hazards and increased demand from e-commerce.

Competition for in-demand drivers has made retention challenging, and finding replacements has also proven difficult due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on driver schools and Motor Vehicle Commission operations.

The driver shortage has impacted numerous other recycling and trash haulers, including several private companies contracted to collect trash in county municipalities and elsewhere in the region, such as Cherry Hill and Collingswood.

“While we are pleased that collections are back to the regular schedule, we know that the pressures and challenges created by the driver shortage remain and that will continue to challenge OTC and other operators. There may still be some minor collection delays on some days. However, our expectations are that service will remain on or close to regular schedule moving forward," the commissioners said. “We want to thank our residents for their understanding, patience and flexibility they demonstrated throughout the last month and we look forward to Burlington County continuing to provide this service free-of-charge to our municipalities, as we have done for the last four decades.”

For more information, contact the recycling hotline at 609-267-6889 or email recycling@otcbc.org.