Worker crushed to death at North Jersey recycling plant
Nov 13, 2024
A worker was crushed to death at an industrial recycling facility in North Jersey, officials said.
The unidentified worker was killed when he came into contact with a baling machine used to compress waste into smaller piles around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Bergen Record reported.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the incident at Ricova USA in Clifton, according to NJ.com.
Clifton police said the worker’s death appeared to be an accident, the Record reported. Ricova USA did not comment on the death.
Ricova was founded in 2001 and is based in Quebec, but the company has U.S. operations in New Jersey as well.
Tuesday’s incident in Clifton was the second time in the past three months someone has been found dead at a New Jersey recycling plant. On Sept. 4, 35-year-old Nicholas Holsten was found dead on a conveyor belt at a facility in Farmingdale.
Employees were sorting material at the Republic Services location when they discovered Holsten’s body, according to police. Holsten was not an employee of Republic Services, and his cause of death has not been publicly reported.
Another tri-state area recycling facility worker was killed in an accident last month in Berlin, Conn. David Dionne, a 66-year-old Waterbury resident, was struck and killed by an industrial payloader at the CWPM facility between New Haven and Hartford, according to authorities. OSHA is also investigating Dionne’s death.