HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-11-08 Solid Waste Advisory Committee MinutesSolid Waste Advisory Committee November 8,1995 Employee Lounge, Town Hall
Present: (Members) Lynda Zarrow, Sally Sabo, Martha Moore, Anne Mark, Jean Krogh, Kay Clark,
Bob Brown. (Sta) Ted McIntire. (Guest) Carol Nelson.
The meeting was called to order at 7:32 p.m. by Sally Sabo.
Minutes of the October 11th meeting were unanimously approved with corrections.
Discussion of Unit Pricing presentation to Board of Selectpeople.
Lynda will prepare a letter to the Board as a follow-up to our presentation. Lynda typed a list of the
Board's questions and will put the list in SWAC's library box. Questions included: Was the 3540%
reduction in trash in other communities before recycling or after? Would our trash contract preclude unit
pricing? How is pay-as-you-throw working in other communities? How would this work with condos and
apartments?
Anne will call DEP's Joe Lambert to inquire about CONEG's questionnaire to towns with unit pricing.
What should our next step be? Find out experiences of other towns, especially towns similar to Reading.
Use these towns' experiences to bolster our plan of action. Think about what we would charge for bags or
stickers. Ted said North Reading residents use stickers. Consult EPA book for how-to specifics.
Martha volunteered to be the contact person for the unit pricing subcommittee.
Articles for Reading Chronicle and Suburban News. Sally reported that the Reading Notes are put
together at the Suburban News, not at Town Hall. She will speak with Peter Hechenbleikner to discuss
SWAC's articles. Anne's article on rechargeable batteries appeared in the Chronicle and the News; she
submitted her articles directly to the newspapers. Jean will submit her article directly to the papers.
f, Reports and Comments:
A. Lynda collected 1 1/2 oz. of button batteries, Bob, a couple of ounces. There were none in the boxes at
Town Hall. Bob periodically takes the batteries to RESCO.
B. Martha met with REI's manager about rechargeable battery collection; the manager expressed enough
interest to be encouraging. Perhaps we could send a press release about REI's battery collecting to the
Globe (should REI decide to do it).
C. Anne and Bob reported on the Eco Expo. Anne gave Ruth Clay samples of double-use envelopes for
use in town government.
D. Bob reported on the MassRecycle meeting in Millbury on Oct. 23rd. Recycling report cards will be
issued again next year.
E. Library circulation box: Lynda put the state's Master Plan in a binder; materials were passed out to be
reviewed.
F. Anne has not heard from the Chamber of Commerce president, despite her letters and phone calls.
G. Lynda reported that Linda King hopes to convene a meeting of the computer recycling task force soon.
Bob reported on his Nov. 8th tour of the Rauthier Company's tire recycling facility in Ayer. Smaller tire
pieces are used for asphalt filler, larger pieces for fuel for paper mills in Canada, among other uses.
On Dec. 6th is a tour of a white goods recycling program in Marlborough. We need to address the issue
of white goods recycling and collection in Reading. Ted asked about white goods collection options. What
do other towns do? Sally, Lynda, Kay, and Anne will call towns around us to find out what they do with
white goods.
Other upcoming meetings were mentioned (NSRRC, DEP, MassRecycle, 1995 Buy Recycled).
Discussion of recommendations for DPW request for proposals for recycling bids. The committee
suggested additional materials to be collected for recycling: paperboard, more kinds of paper, aerosol cans,
aluminum pie pans and foil. Ted said that the more items our hauler picks up, the more they'll mingle in
the truck; the hauler will then get less money for the recyclables, and the town will pay more. Ted will talk
to our hauler to ascertain the impact an increase would have. Anne asked about marketing our own
recyclables; Ted said that is not an appealing option.
The price of newspapers has dropped substantially.
Our recycle budget is roughly $163,000.
The committee discussed collection for apartments and condos. Our guest, Carol Nelson, a new
Reading resident living in the Washington Apts. across from CVS, has a strong interest in this issue. Carol
had called BFI and Waste Management to find out about recycling options for apartment dwellers, but no
satisfactory options were available. She asked about downtown recycle bins, such as are found in many
municipalities. Ted said the problem with public bins is that the recycle truck driver can't check through
the cans to determine contents. No specific solutions to the important issue of apt./condo recycling were
arrived at, but the committee did invite Carol to join the committee as an Associate Member.
Discussion of survey on compost bin use. Lynda will draft a cover letter to go out with the compost bin
surveys and will tally responses on a matrix.
Status of disposal contract and Reading landfill capping. Ted reported that town lawyer Ted Cohen still
has the new disposal contract. Currently, Waste Management has a contract to dispose of our rubbish,
and our trash is going to an "approved site."
Kay reported on her research on landfill capping and mining. She spoke to someone at DEP and read
articles on this issue. Kay will continue researching the question of whether or not Reading would need to
monitor a mined landfill for 30 years.
Martha moved that we investigate the possibility of providing a drop-off location for recyclables in
Reading. Lynda seconded the motion. The committee voted unanimously to approve this motion. Further
discussion was tabled until the next meeting. (And the question was raised: would EMI be willing to
include more recyclable items.)
The meeting was adjourned at 10:26 p.m.
Submitted by
Jean Krogh