Burlington County is providing a second location for residents to dispose of strings of unwanted or damaged holiday lights in an environmentally-sound fashion.
Rather than toss unworking strings of lights into household trash or worse – in recycling cans – the Burlington County Commissioners are encouraging residents to give their lights a second life by bringing them to either the e-waste recycling drop-off in the Burlington County Resource Recovery Complex at 22000 Burlington-Columbus Road in Florence or the Burlington County Agricultural Center, 500 Centerton Road, Moorestown.
Strands of lights must be kept out of curbside recycling containers because they tangle and damage the mechanical equipment used in the County’s Recycling Center.
“As Burlington County residents unbox their holiday decorations, we’re asking them to avoid adding more waste to landfills or risk damages to our recycling equipment,” said Burlington County Commissioner Tom Pullion, the liaison to the Department of Solid Waste and Recycling. “Bringing non-working lights to the Resource Recovery Complex or the Agricultural Center gives components a new useful life. It’s the eco-friendly way to decorate for the holidays.”
Residents bringing lights or other electronics to the Resource Recovery Complex should enter the complex and follow signs to the scalehouse, where they will then be directed to the e-waste drop-off.
E-waste includes old televisions, computers, monitors, printers, cell phones and other small electronic devices.
The Agricultural Center is a new location for residents to bring unwanted or spent holiday lights. Collection there will begin on Dec. 7 during the Burlington County Farmers Market’s special Holiday Market from 10 AM to 2 PM and continue through January 2025.
A box for lights will be located outside the Farmhouse Kitchen entrance near the main parking lot.
“We’re excited to bring this free County service to the Agricultural Center during the holidays so that residents have another convenient location to recycle their holiday lights,” said Pullion. “So far this year, the County has recycled more than 2,500 pounds of holiday string lights and we believe creating a second location will make it easier for residents to go green when decorating.”
Burlington County was one of the first counties in New Jersey to create a regional recycling program and is one of the only counties to collect recycling from all its municipalities at no charge to either towns or residents.
Last year, close to 82 million pounds of recyclables were collected from Burlington County households, saving their towns more than $3.8 million in landfill tipping fees.
More information about recycling is available on the County’s free Recycle Coach app. The app can be downloaded from the Apple or GooglePlay app stores and has information about what materials are accepted in curbside recycling bins, plus updates and alerts about collection schedules for each town.
For more information about the proper disposal of electronics or other materials, call 609-499-1001 or email recycle@co.burlington.nj.us .