‘Project Move Out’ offers free large item pickup for Rutgers’ off-campus students

As the school year winds down and sidewalk curbs all over New Brunswick become inundated with discarded mattresses and tired-looking couches bound for landfills, Rutgers is partnering with the City of New Brunswick to recycle bulk waste in an effort to reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

Besides the benefits of decluttering for the summer and minimizing New Brunswick’s environmental impact, students that participate in the recycling initiative, titled “Project Move Out,” will remove themselves from paying municipal fines for improperly disposing items in violation of the city’s trash ordinance, according to the project’s website.

With “Project Move Out,” sanitation workers will provide free curbside pickup of bulk items in New Brunswick for Rutgers students who pre-register between April 20th and May 20th at noon. Collection will run between May 21 and 27.

Workers will hit 69 streets, including popular off-campus residential areas such as Bartlett Street, Central Avenue, Commercial Avenue, Condict Street, Courtlandt Street, Delafield Street, Division Street, Dix Street, Easton Avenue, Guilden Street and Hamilton Street.

“Project Move Out” will collect refrigerators, window air conditioning units, microwaves, televisions, video game consoles, cell phones, computers, monitors and printers. Freon, a relatively toxic substance used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants, will be recovered from all collected appliances to prevent leakage into the environment.

Other items workers will collect include mattresses, couches, chairs, tables, bookcases, desks and rugs.

Excluded items for pickup include vegetative waste, construction material, regular household garbage, hazardous waste, flammable and explosive waste and mandatory recyclable materials.

In previous years, “Project Move Out” collected about 849 tons of bulk waste in 2014 and about 518 tons in 2013, according to nj.com.

A “Project Move Out” collection area is available for students residing on campus, where individuals need to drop off their bulk waste items on May 21, 22, 26 or 27 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. behind the College Avenue Gymnasium in Lot 30. Pre-registration is not required, but a valid Rutgers ID must be presented upon dropoff.

Students and New Brunswick residents with proof of their city residency can drop off items at the New Brunswick Department of Public Works at 400 Jersey Avenue on May 30 and June 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Students can pre-register for “Project Move Out” online at http://ruoffcampus.rutgers.edu/projectmoveout.