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Town of Trenton
Solid Waste Committee
Materials Presented to Selectmen June 19, 2008
Recycling
recommendation: In the Solid Waste Committee (SWC)
meetings in May and June, we discussed obtaining two dumpsters for town
residents to drop off paper and cardboard, as a way to reduce the weight
(and therefore cost) of our municipal solid waste (MSW). While we would pay rental fees on
dumpsters and pickup charges on recycled materials, we would not pay weight
based charges on materials diverted from MSW to recycling (our MSW charges
currently total ~$130/ton). Additional information concerning
dumpsters from conversations with Beth Gott at Gott’s Disposal is
attached. The SWC recommends that the Selectmen authorize rental of two
dumpsters and arrangements to have them dumped ‘as
needed’.
Location of the
recycling dumpsters: The SWC actively considered two sites for
the two recycling dumpsters: Salty
Way, near the Salt and Sand storage building, and at the far end of the
Town Office parking lot. Due to the
construction mess, and being ‘out of sight, out of mind’, we
felt that the Salty Way
site was not appropriate for now.
The SWC members present at the June meeting felt that the far end of
the Town Office parking lot was the best location to start the recyclable
collection, due to its high visibility, ease of access for town residents
and there being plenty of room. It
is possible that they may be moved to Salty Way in the future, especially
if we choose to expand the number of containers and space required. The
SWC recommends that the Selectmen approve the far end of the Town Office
parking lot as the location for the two recycling dumpsters.
Size of dumpsters:
Gott’s rents 2 yard, 4 yard and 6 yard dumpsters. Tremont uses 4 yard dumpsters in their
recycling program. Our SWC did not
reach a size recommendation at our last meeting.
Details of signage and
parking lot markings for the dumpster area have not been addressed as of
the June SWC meeting.
Communications: The SWC
members recognize that our town’s efforts at recycling will not be
effective if town residents don’t know about it. Likewise, we felt it would be beneficial
for us to make more available to our residents other information concerning
waste disposal (i.e. Can I throw out fluorescent bulbs with the regular
trash? What about batteries? What do I do with my broken microwave? Are there any special trash collections I
need to know about?). At our June
meeting, the SWC members present agreed to ask the Selectmen to authorize
efforts to communicate with our town residents about solid waste issues by
means of mailings, the town website, the town cable TV channel, and through
the school. The SWC recommends that the Selectmen authorize:
- That the town pay for
approximately 3 post card mailing per year to town residents to inform them
of solid waste news, such as the start of the paper and cardboard recycling
program or the date of the universal waste drop off (October at
MDIHS).
- Concerning the town web
site, the SWC requests permission for a link from the Town main webpage to
a new SWC news page, to be managed by Tom Sproule
under the oversight of the full SWC.
- Concerning the town
cable TV channel, we seek approval from the Selectmen to prepare and post
information as we feel it is appropriate (nothing specific at the moment
– the dumpster news would likely be first).
- Concerning the school,
we seek approval to approach the school principal about possibly
implementing ‘waste awareness’ educational activities and
sending home waste disposal information as part of the students’
weekly newsletters.
Recycle Dumpster Information:
From Gott’s Disposal. Mike
Gilmartin spoke first with Beth Gott. Tom Sproule
had a second follow up conversation with Beth to ask more questions on
6/13/08. (Tom
talked to Mindy at Gott’s on 7/2/08, and received more information
(see below)).
To rent a dumpster:
6 yard = $21/mth
4 yard = $19/mth
2 yard = $16/mth
To pickup a dumpster:
6 yard = $13/ pickup
4 yard = $12/ pickup
2 yard = $9/pickup
Tremont uses 4 yard dumpsters for their recycling. Beth thinks the dumpsters at Trenton School are 2 @ 2 yards for paper and
cardboard and 1 @ 4 yards for MSW.
Therefore, the dumpster currently at the Trenton Town Office for MSW
is probably 2 yards. Beth said
Morris Yachts, by the airport, does have a 6 yard dumpster if anyone wanted
to see one for size.
Pickup schedule:
Beth advised that at least until we get established we should plan
to call for pickup rather than being on a regular schedule. We should expect that it might take a
couple of days for them to pick up after we call.
Tracking weights: Beth said that yes, we can arrange for a
combination of EMR and Gott’s to record our recycling weights and
pass them on to us. This would be
important for determining the effectiveness of the recycling program
(rather than just guessing by apparent drops in MSW weights).
Purchasing dumpsters: Beth indicated that most of Gott’s
customers rent dumpsters, but owning them is certainly an option. For purchasing 1 or 2 dumpsters, she
recommended we go to Maine Equipment in Bangor (Gott’s does not act as a middleman
to sell dumpsters). Beth guessed
that a 4 yard dumpster might cost ~$700-800, but that was a real ballpark
estimate. If we were going to buy at
least six, Maine Equipment might give us a better deal, or we might go to a
company in Massachusetts that Gott’s bought from when they were
buying lots. Beth can give us the
name if we are ever interested.
Weight of load:
Beth said that cardboard is light, and did not give me an estimate
of how much a dumpster full of cardboard might weight. She thought the 4 yard Tremont dumpster
for paper had yielded up to 1.5 tons when full.
The numbers:
So if we rent 2 dumpsters for now (one for paper, one
for cardboard), and if we suppose they needed to be emptied once per month,
the per year costs would be:
4 yard 4 yard 6 yard 6 yard
Per month
Per year Per month
Per year
Rental $19 $228 $21 $252
Pickup $12 $144 $13 $156
Total per dumpster $31 $372 $34 $408
Total for 2 dumpsters $62 $744 $68 $816
We are on track, for the year ending June 30, 2008 to
pay for 1500-1600 tons of municipal solid waste sent to EMR at a total
(EMR+PERC) cost of ~$130/ton. If we
can divert just 6-7 tons (less than ½ of 1%) from MSW to these recycling
dumpsters, the MSW cost savings would pay for the dumpster program. The now extinct door-to-door monthly
newsprint collection used to collect about that much. We should be able to collect much more
this way.
Mike Gilmartin
also reported that Tremont keeps two recycle locations, with two dumpsters
at each (one for paper, one for cardboard).
Paper restrictions (or lack thereof): Beth said that paper recycling can
include glossy magazines, and items bound by staples. If you take your paper recycling to the
dumpster in plastic bags (like trash bags or grocery store bags), the
plastic bags should NOT go into the dumpster.
Other information: Beth confirmed that the dumpsters Tremont
uses have locks to the tops and slots in the side, and that we should use
the same. Their drivers would have
keys to the locks for dumping. The
hauler dumps the dumpster into their truck (does not do a dumpster swap). She also said Tremont puts tarps over the
tops of their recycling dumpsters, to keep rain out (while the dumpsters
have covers, rain can get in through the cracks).
7/2/08 additional information:
Approximate dimensions:
4 cu. Yd. = 5’ wide x 7.5’ long x 3.5’
high
6 cu. Yd. = 5.5’ wide x 10’ long x 4’
high
There is no fee to originally deliver dumpster to our
site or to switch a smaller for a larger size.
Mindy at Gott’s stressed that the importance of
recycling is that items be correctly separated. If they are mistakenly mixed (like waxed cardboard
(trash) in with other cardboard, or cardboard in with paper, it may make
the batch unrecyclable.
Mindy said there is no set list of what does and does
not fit into a particular recycling category. EMR does not keep or issue a set list.
Mindy said that cardboard is not just corrugated
cardboard, but also includes thin cardboard like shoe boxes and cereal
boxes.
Plastics 1-7 apparently all recycle together.
I was concerned about spillage when paper (which blows
easily) is transferred from dumpster to truck. Mindy claims that there is no spillage.
I was thinking that if our total waste is 1500 tons, and
we can reasonably recycle 20% or 300 tons, that is a lot of times emptying
the dumpster, if we go for a smaller size.
Still, since there is no additional cost, it probably does not hurt
us to start with 4 cu. Yds. And move up to 6 when
we are ready.
As mentioned earlier, waxed cardboard is trash – not recyclable.
Mindy said Gott’s has had a lot of new customers
recently, so when we are ready to order them, a little lead time would be
good (or expect a delay in receiving them).
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