Free Recycling Events This March
The Union County Board of Commissioners would like to remind you of several free recycling events coming up in March.
Union County will hold its first two Paper Shredding Events for the 2026 season in March. This “Weekend of Shredding” will take place on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22. Both of these events will take place at the Union County VoTech which is located at 1776 Raritan Road in Scotch Plains. Both events will take place in the West Hall/ Police Academy lot. The hours for both of the shredding events will be from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The event will end early should the trucks fill before 1:00 pm. The shredding events are drive-up only. NO business paper will be accepted and each resident is limited to ten pounds of paper/ four bags or boxes per vehicle
The first Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) event of the 2026 season will take place on Saturday, April 25th. The event will take place at the Union County VoTech, which is located at 1776 Raritan Road in Scotch Plains. The event will take place in the West Hall/ Police Academy parking lot. This event will run from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Some items for drop off include pesticides & herbicides, pool chemicals, gasoline, oil, oil-based paints and deck stain. Latex Paint/Acrylic/Enamel (wall paint) is water-based and is NOT ACCEPTED. Latex paint should be dried out and discarded in with your regular garbage. Tires that have been generated by residents will also be accepted that this event. Residents are limited to bringing eight tires per household (these include car tires, bike tires, and other small equipment tires- not truck tires). This event is drive-up only.
The first Scrap Metal events of the 2026 season will be held on Thursday, April 2nd and Saturday, April 18th. The scrap metal event will run from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. There will be two drop-off locations operating on this day. These two sites are the County Emergency Services Yard, which is located at 151 Kenilworth Boulevard in Cranford and in Rahway River Park off of St. Georges Avenue in Rahway. Some items for drop-off include air conditioners, refrigerators, metal cabinets, and metal gutters, amongst others.
There will be ample signage at all of the events to direct residents to the proper drop-off location. All events are held rain or shine.
Please visit www.ucnj.org/recycling for more information.
Please download the Recycle Coach app to get the latest information and reminders about county recycling events.