Public Works

As we announced earlier this year, the Borough of Oakland has entered into a shared services agreement with the Borough of Pompton Lakes to provide comprehensive garbage, recycling, and yard waste collection services in place of our current vendor.  The switch in service providers begins on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, and this letter will explain what you can expect – what is changing and what is staying the same.  

Garbage and Bulky Waste Collection:        The collection frequency will remain twice per week and your current pickup days will remain unchanged.  Collections on the south side of town will be on Monday and Thursday and collections on the north side of town will be on Tuesday and Friday.

Recycling Collection:  Recycling will continue to be collected on Wednesdays with co-mingled and paper / cardboard collected on alternate weeks.  The types of acceptable materials will also remain the same.

Beginning July 1^st residents will be able to use the Borough of Pompton Lakes Recycling Center.  The center is located at 20 Grove Street, Pompton Lakes, N.J. 07442, and accepts a variety of materials free of charge, including paper/cardboard, co-mingled recycling, metal, electronics, and used motor oil.  Residents will be required to show their driver’s license and/or proof of residency to the Recycling Center staff in order to gain access.  Attendees will be given a vehicle decal.  Tires are accepted for a fee of $4.00 per tire without a rim, and $7.00 per tire with a rim.  Residents may also purchase leaf bags at a reduced cost of $5.00 for ten (10) bags, or $1.00 for two (2) bags. 

Yard Waste:   The weekly yard waste collection program will continue to run from early April through early December.  However, the collection days are changing. If your yard waste is currently picked up on Monday, it will be picked up on Thursday and if your pick-up day is currently Tuesday, it will be changing to Friday. 

Electronics:   Electronics will continue to be picked up on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  Please call the Borough of Oakland Department of Public Works to schedule the pickup and follow the instructions in the Recycling / Garbage newsletter.  If you cannot locate your copy of the newsletter, it can be accessed on the Borough’s website.

Household Appliances and Metals:  As with electronics, the collection of household appliances and metals will also remain the same.  Materials are collected on the second Thursday of every month.  Curbside metal collection requires an appointment.  To schedule an appointment, please call the Borough of Oakland Department of Public Works at (201) 337-8111, ext. 3002.

Can Size:  The acceptable maximum can size for garbage, recycling and yard waste is currently 32 gallons with a maximum weight of 50 pounds.  These limits are increasing to 45 gallons and 60 pounds respectively.  If you are using cans that exceed these new limits, please replace them with compliant cans to ensure that your curbside solid waste is collected without interruption.  

Holidays:  There are more holidays built into the new collection schedule so please refer to the schedule below for the list of holidays from July 1^st through the end of the year.  Please note that garbage, recycling, and vegetative waste collections that fall on a Holiday will be skipped to the next regularly scheduled collection day, as noted in the below schedule. Metal and appliance collections that fall on a Holiday will be moved to the following week, if applicable.  We are aware that the additional holidays may impact one side of town more than the other so we will evaluate swapping the north side / south side schedules in alternating years.  For now, as noted earlier, the schedule will remain unchanged. 

The Borough has had the same vendor for a very long time so we understand that you may be concerned about the upcoming change. While we expect the new arrangement to be successful and a better value for our taxpayers, if you do encounter an issue with your service, please do not hesitate to contact the Oakland Department of Public Works at (201) 337-8111, ext. 3002 so we can attend to it promptly.  Likewise, feel free to contact us if you have a question about a topic not covered here.