It may have been a long time in coming, but Towamensing Township’s brand-new recycling center is now open.

Supervisor John Kleintop said the center opened on Wednesday. It’s located next to the township municipal building at 120 Stable Road.

“We have it opened, so whoever was going and doing recycling last week, if they come this week, it certainly will look different,” Kleintop said. “For 20-plus years, we have voluntarily done recycling in the township for our residents.”

Kleintop explained how recycling has changed over the years.

“When the recycling goods were at its peak, it really didn’t cost us any money because we could sell the products and about break even,” he said. “Over the years, those numbers have dwindled to the point of today’s cost of goods as the market fluctuates.”

Kleintop said the township has over 4,000 residents in the township, “so that’s what we’re serving.”

“It probably costs us between $50,000 to $60,000 to do recycling in our township,” he said. “But, we believe the right course to stay on as the cost of these goods may increase, that means our recycling costs will go down, and vice versa.”

Kleintop said the township “worked very hard to get grant money” in the form of a 902 grant.

“And that grant was able to afford us over $400,000 that we were able to put into an upgraded recycling center, which will reduce the man hours and labor to process our recycled goods,” he said. “We invested money and put a fence around the main compound of our township facility, so residents will no longer be able to go into the compound area like they had before.”

Kleintop said the recycling is going to be open 24 hours a day, and added that it’s well-lit for security purposes, as well as being monitored with cameras that also have audio that can be picked up.

“The cameras are so clear, we can read license plates all the way out on Stable Road to help deter the wrong kind of atmosphere at our recycling center, and to make sure that people are adhering to the recycling rules,” he said. “We have already fined an individual for not obeying the recycling rules because they thought that they could just drop off and do whatever they wanted to do with products that were not recyclables,” (it was construction debris).

Kleintop noted that the littering fine is $1,000.

“It’s (the recycling center) to be used and not abused,” he said. “We’ve invested a lot of money in trying to do this the right way.”

Supervisor Scott Mosier, who also serves as township roadmaster, said he’s glad to see the new recycling center has come to fruition.

“It’s definitely going to free up some time for us,” Mosier said.