The free Recycle Coach app is providing information on recycling programs in more than 200 municipalities and 19 of 21 counties across the state. Downloads have surpassed more than 860,000. The DEP launched Recycle Coach in January 2018.

“Recycling remains one of the best ways for residents to help protect the environment and natural resources every day,” DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe said. “Sometimes one of the hurdles to recycling can be a simple lack of understanding about what can be recycled in each community and what cannot. Recycle Coach puts this important information right at your fingertips in a fun and fast way. We look forward to even more communities signing up and helping their residents be better stewards of the environment.”

New Jersey is the first state to purchase a program that centralizes local recycling information at every government level in one app. The DEP offers the service to all governments free of charge under a three-year renewable contract.

“Already Recycle Coach has transformed our community. It’s gotten residents to be more proactive about recycling—and this is only the beginning,” said Julia Burdge, recycling coordinator for New Milford in Bergen County. “Residents love it. The reception has been 100 percent positive.”

Recycling helps conserve resources, reduces waste sent to disposal facilities, helps curb emissions of greenhouse gases, and creates jobs. The DEP purchased Recycle Coach to further its commitment to recycling. Through passage of a 1987 law, New Jersey was the first state to require recycling. New Jersey remains a national recycling leader, with one of the nation’s highest recycling rates.