Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. and the Essex County Utilities Authority have announced that the county's 22 municipalities will save about $2.5 million in 2010 "tipping fees" through a newly negotiated solid waste disposal contract with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. The savings are the result of a new five-year contract in which municipalities will continue to send solid waste to the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility in Newark.

South Orange's anticipated 2010 savings amount to $19,778.74, according to a press release.

Essex County municipalities pay a solid waste disposal fee, or "tipping fee," to dispose of their municipal garbage at the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility, which is owned by the Port Authority. The last contract was for 10 years and set the tipping fees for 2009 at $88.86 per ton. The new five-year contract for 2010-2014 reduces the tipping fee for 2010 to $82.11 per ton.

The ECUA projects that savings will continue for the four subsequent years of the new contract (2011-2014) because the tipping fees will remain lower than the 2009 rate.