Renew America Success Stories

Planet Newark Recycling Business Development Program

Description

The Planet Newark Recycling Business Development Program promotes Newark as a prime location to establish or expand a recycling business through financial incentives such as loans, grants, tax benefits and other advantages. To date, more than 80 recycling firms, employing more than 1,000 people, have been established and are engaged in shipping and processing materials such as paper, metals, plastics, chemical solvents and x-ray film.

Through this program, started in April 1994, the city of Newark seeks to ensure that it has adequate markets for recyclable materials collected from residents and businesses within its borders, which is a key factor in ensuring that local recycling programs remain sustainable.

By promoting a market approach to recycling, Newark is acting on the belief that the private sector can, with greater efficiency and cost effectiveness than municipal government, run material collection and processing centers. These profitable centers will then serve to establish local markets for recyclable goods, keeping transportation and processing costs down while ensuring that the primary environmental benefits of recycling -- energy savings, reduced water and air pollution, reduced pressure to mine virgin materials, reduced use of petroleum for plastic production and reduced consumption of trees from established forests -- will continue to be realized.

These environmental benefits can be dramatic: creating one ton of recycled paper saves enough energy to power the average house for 6 months, saves 7,000 gallons of water and emits 60 fewer pounds of pollution than creating one ton of virgin paper.

In addition to its environmental benefits, the program is designed to generate local jobs and increase the municipal tax base, both of which are beneficial to Newark's predominantly low-income population.

"Recycling is the way of the future, and we will have no future if we all do not make recycling an automatic part of our everyday lives," says Sharpe James, Newark's Mayor.

Program Highlights

Planet Newark Relocation Incentive Kit

• The Planet Newark Relocation Incentive Kit features Planet Newark's slogan: "The #1 Environment for Environmental Businesses." The Kit's attractive pocket folder and booklet describe the advantages of moving a recycling facility to Newark. The booklet details available tax breaks, grants and loans; describes the city's infrastructural features including its labor force; and highlights the market for raw recyclables and recycled goods.
• The Kit also includes testimonials from operators of successful Newark recycling firms.
• This package is being marketed aggressively to operators of paper mills and other members of the recycling industry.

There are a variety of economic development programs offered through several agencies that are being made available to recycling firms. These programs include:

• Low-interest loans from $50,000 to $500,000, with up to 10 years to pay, for establishing a recycling operation.
• Grants for research and development studies to establish a recycling operation.
• Sales tax exemptions on the purchase of recycling equipment.
• Ninety percent loan guarantees (up to $1.5 million for fixed assets and up to $1 million for working capital) for firms creating jobs at the rate of one job per $25,000 of guarantee funds.

More than 70 recycling firms have decided to locate in Newark, including:

• Advanced Enterprises, which collects and recycles wood scraps and vegetative material, such as leaves and twigs, to produce a decorative mulch used by homeowners and nurseries.
• Distributors Recycling, a subsidiary of Pure Tech, which processes PET plastic soda bottles, glass, tin and aluminum containers.
• Giordano's Paper Recycling recycles mixed office paper, computer paper, and cardboard and newspaper for the manufacture of recycled paper and tissue products.
• Citibag, which produces plastic bags from specialized polyethylene and post-consumer material.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: The Planet Newark Recycling Business Development program is managed by the City of Newark. Partnerships have been formed with a vareity of agencies and organizations, including the State of New Jersey, Public Service Electric & Gas, the Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey, the Regional Business Partnership and the Newark Economic Development Corporation.

Budget: The latest figures are available by contacting the program.

Community Served: The 275,000 predominantly low-income residents of Newark, New Jersey.

Measures of Success:

Since 1990, Newark's recycling program saved taxpayers $15.44 million in disposal fees and collected nearly $167,000 in revenue from the sales of recyclables.

Success stories designed by Mark Nowak

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