Phillipsburg, Parsippany businesses and Roxbury community initiative earn New Jersey recycling awards

NEW JERSEY — A Phillipsburg solar panel recycling company, a Parsippany manufacturer and a Roxbury community initiative were among six recipients of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s 2026 Recycling Awards, recognizing efforts to reduce waste, conserve resources and promote sustainability.

The awards were presented during a ceremony at Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township, held in conjunction with the annual recycling symposium hosted by the Association of New Jersey Recyclers.

The Sherrill administration recognized businesses, organizations and municipalities for developing recycling and waste-reduction programs that help keep materials out of landfills and other disposal facilities.

“Recycling helps conserve resources, reduces waste, promotes sustainability and protects public health – and makes economic sense by creating jobs, avoiding disposal costs and saving energy,” Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Ed Potosnak said. “I commend these award winners for their outstanding work in their communities and for serving as roles models for all of us to follow.”

Phillipsburg company recognized for solar panel recycling

Commercial Solar Panel Recycling Inc., based in Phillipsburg, Warren County, received the Recycling Industry Award for its work recovering reusable materials from discarded solar panels.

According to DEP, the company operates New Jersey’s first and only dedicated solar panel recycling center, processing approximately two solar panels per minute. Its recycling operations recover aluminum frames, electronic components and panel glass, which can be recycled into new products.

The company has kept nearly 20,000 solar panels out of the waste stream while recovering approximately 245,000 pounds of glass, 36,000 pounds of aluminum and 1,500 pounds of junction boxes and wiring.

The award recognizes the company’s efforts to address waste associated with solar energy equipment while recovering materials that can be used in manufacturing.

Parsippany manufacturer diverts more than 99% of waste

ECOS, also known as Earth Friendly Products, received the Business Award for its recycling and waste-reduction practices at its Parsippany facility in Morris County.

The company manufactures environmentally friendly household and commercial cleaning products and has implemented programs to reduce waste, reuse materials and recycle both traditionally accepted and nontraditional items.

According to DEP, those practices allowed the facility to divert 99.3% of its manufacturing and office waste from disposal facilities in 2025.

The company’s waste-reduction efforts also resulted in more than $273,000 in avoided disposal costs last year, demonstrating the potential financial benefits of recycling and resource management.

Roxbury Community Repair Café honored for waste reduction

Roxbury Township, the Roxbury Public Library and the Lake Hopatcong Foundation jointly received the Waste Reduction, Resource Management/Sustainability Award for their collaborative Roxbury Community Repair Café initiative.

The program brings together skilled volunteers who help residents repair household items rather than discard them. The free community events are designed to extend the useful life of everyday products while reducing the amount of waste sent to disposal facilities.

By encouraging residents to repair and reuse items, the initiative promotes resource conservation and provides a community-based alternative to throwing away products that may still be usable.

The award recognizes the partnership among the township, library and foundation in making repair services accessible to the community.

Three additional organizations recognized statewide

The City of Hoboken received the Government Award for its municipal composting program, which began in 2015 through a partnership with a community composting company.

The city has since expanded its residential drop-off, curbside residential and commercial composting programs. In 2025, Hoboken diverted 265,560 pounds of food scraps from landfills through those initiatives.

Table to Table, a Saddle Brook-based nonprofit, received the Leadership Award for its efforts to recover surplus perishable food and distribute it to organizations serving people experiencing hunger.

The nonprofit serves Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris and Passaic counties, collecting fresh, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste. According to DEP, Table to Table recovered more than 25 million pounds of surplus food in 2025.

Torus, a youth-founded, student-led nonprofit based in West Windsor, received the Rising Star Award for developing a free curbside food-waste collection program.

In 2025, the organization served more than 1,000 households and businesses across 19 municipalities, diverting more than 150,000 pounds of food waste from solid waste disposal facilities.

“We applaud the award winners for their accomplishments and dedication to recycling, waste reduction and protecting the environment,” said Paul Baldauf, DEP’s Assistant Commissioner for Air Quality, Energy and Sustainability. “We are confident that the impressive achievements of our recycling award winners will inspire others.”

DEP encourages residents to recycle properly

New Jersey became the first state in the nation to enact legislation requiring recycling in residential, commercial and institutional settings in 1987. According to DEP, the state achieved an overall recycling rate of 53% in 2023 and continues to support recycling through grants, education and community programs.

State environmental officials are reminding residents and businesses that recycling requirements vary by municipality and that placing unacceptable materials in recycling containers can contaminate otherwise recyclable materials.

Items such as plastic bags, household trash, propane tanks and used syringes should not be placed in curbside or workplace recycling bins. DEP advises residents to check their municipality’s recycling guidelines to determine which materials are accepted.

Contamination remains a significant challenge for the recycling industry because manufacturers require clean recyclable materials to produce new products. Recycling companies may reject entire loads when they contain unacceptable items, increasing costs and reducing the environmental and economic benefits of recycling.

DEP encourages residents to follow local recycling rules and avoid placing questionable materials in recycling bins. Proper recycling helps conserve natural resources, save energy, reduce pollution and keep millions of tons of material out of disposal facilities.

Additional information about recycling programs and accepted materials is available through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s recycling website and the Association of New Jersey Recyclers.