Free Upcoming Union County Recycling Events
Union County will hold two Paper Shredding Events for the month of June. The first paper shredding event for the month will take place on Wednesday, June 3rd. This event will take place at Clark Public Works facility, which is located at 315 Westfield Avenue in Clark (behind the Police Department). Use Wilson Road for access. The second shredding event for the month will take place on Sunday, June 14th at Plainfield High School, which is located at 950 Park Avenue in Plainfield. The event will take place in the Arlington Avenue parking lot. The hours for both shredding events will be from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The events 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. These shredding events are intended to help residents shred confidential and/ or sensitive medical records, legal documents, financial documents, etc. Junk mail, flyers, magazines and other non-sensitive documents can be recycled in your regular municipal recycling program.
The next Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) event of the 2026 season will take place on Sunday, June 7th. The event will take place at the UCNJ Campus, which is located at 1033 Springfield Avenue in Cranford. The event will take place in parking lots 5A and 5B. 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/Acrylic/Enamel paint (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 next Scrap Metal events of the 2026 season will be held on Thursday, June 4th and Saturday, June 20th. The scrap metal events 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 (3 Parkway Drive) 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 f
or more information. Please download the Recycle Coach app to get the latest information and reminders about county recycling events.