MCUA MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS
Solid Waste Division
Wall Street Journal Article Profiles NYC Artist’s Photography of Landfill
JULY 2012
PROTECTING AND PRESERVING CENTRAL NEW JERSEY’S ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES
Since June 21, photographs of the Middlesex County Landfill have been on display in the Fred Torres Collaborations gallery in Chelsea as part of artist Luca Pizzaroni’s newest installation. The exhibit features a combination of photography and painted objects, arranged in the gallery to represent the relationship between consumerism and garbage. Pizzaroni’s project has done more than just repurpose the Landfill’s image for the exhibition space; it also attracted the attention of The Wall Street Journal, which published an article entitled “Gallery Space Goes to Waste.” Executive Director Richard Fitamant was featured in the article, partly to confirm one of Pizzaroni’s theses: that trash volume is related to economic prosperity. The Solid Waste Division’s data tracking over time illustrates this phenomenon in actual tonnage numbers: in 2007, shortly before the economic crash, the Solid Waste Division logged 722,080 tons of waste. By the end of 2011 that number had dropped to 491,018 tons. The WSJ also publicized one of the Landfill’s most innovative projects: the Landfill Gas System, which provides power to the MCUA’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, saving residents and businesses millions of dollars annually while reducing our carbon footprint.
The Landfill is an extremely active site, making it difficult to allow safe access to the public. Still, the MCUA has always tried to accommodate public requests to visit the site while maintaining the safety and integrity of its operations. In the past, access has been extended to numerous public groups and media outlets including The Star-Ledger, The Home News Tribune, WABC Television, WNBC Television, and HBO Films/The Sopranos.
The Middlesex County Landfill staff is pleased to have hosted Pizzaroni, and hopes that his project will draw attention to the critical role that MCUA’s services provide in the modern economy. The exhibition will remain on view until July 27.

Solid Waste Division
June 2012 Tonnage Figures
An average of 202 trucks hauled a total of 1,709 tons of waste to the landfill facility each day.