Effective December 20, 2014: The transfer station will be operating under single-stream recycling for all of its recyclables except for cardboard.
The two open containers previously reserved for glass and plastics will now each hold glass, plastic, white paper, tin cans, and aluminum cans.
We have entered into a contract with Pinard Waste Systems of Manchester, NH, who—for a flat fee of $390/month—will pick up our single-stream recyclables each week. While this removes revenue from the town, it represents an overall cost savings. We anticipate a $10,000 reduction in capital costs in 2015 (we no longer need to replace our increasingly ineffective aluminum baler) as well as a minimum savings of $10,000 in annual operating costs.
For now, residents will be using the town’s two open containers for the single-stream recyclables. In the near future, Pinard will be replacing them with 5 smaller open-top containers. These new containers will belong to Pinard and the Select Board will review how best to dispose of the two 40-ton containers that the town owns.
We are anticipating that our residents will have a more efficient experience at the transfer station and that the town will enjoy an overall reduction in costs. The Select Board wishes to thank our road agent, Jeff St. Jean, for his efforts in helping to make these improvements.
(As background to this decision, in September Waste Management of Rochester abruptly refused to accept the plastics that the town had been hauling to them for years, saying that we had no contract with them to accept plastics — or glass. Since then, we have been hauling our plastics to Manchester at a cost of almost $1,000 per month. The increased expense precipitated our need to examine alternative approaches).