Hazlet residents say that they were caught off guard by new recycling rules in the town, which have left some of them with an overflow of recyclables.

The residents say that officials recently put out a notice on the town’s website and Facebook page that they will be sending a recycling inspector out to look at the cans before they are picked up. If what is inside those cans isn’t on the accepted items list, the bin is tagged and left for the next collection when the items are removed.

“I have the next pick up as Aug. 13 – two weeks from now. Did you see how full my garbage is?” said one resident.

Neighbors say they would have liked to have had more notice – or at least something in the mail.

"If it's that important, maybe send a monthly notice or maybe send a weekly notice at least until it's under control and then they can back off a little bit,” says Joseph Pandolfo.

Hazlet officials did not wish to comment on the situation. They said that all of the information about the new rules can be found on Facebook.