The Township of Montclair had to temporarily halt its recycling pick up due to the impact of COVID-19 on staff.

But Montclair has adapted with residents dropping off their recyclables to the DCS yard at 219 North Fullerton Avenue. So many residents in fact, that the Township responded by expanding recycling drop-off days and hours. Township Manager Timothy Stafford spoke of the challenges facing the Township during Tuesday’s council meeting, explaining how the township tried to avoid the suspension. The township explored the idea of conducting a single trash pick-up and one recycling collection per week, but found it would be unsustainable for several reasons: A single-load trash pick-up conducted twice a week requires 5 trucks and 15 employees and takes approximately 6 hours to complete. A double-load trash pickup conducted once a week requires at least 6 or 7 trucks and 18 to 21 employees, depending on volume, and takes approximately 10 to 12 hours to conduct. Given the severe loss of employee numbers due to COVID-19, it became clear that the township does not have enough workers to conduct a double-load pick-up on a sustainable basis. Not only would the load be too taxing on the workers who are currently available, but the same employees would also have to collect the weekly recycling in the town’s four recycling collection sections. So, what is normally completed in four days would need to be done in two or three days.