HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-12-14 Solid Waste Advisory Committee MinutesMinutes of Solid Waste Advisory Committee
Berger Room, Town Hall Annex
Wednesday, December 14,1994
Attendees: Bob Brown, Ruth Cogan Clay, Anne Mark, Martha Moore, Sally Sabo, Lynda Zarrow.
The meeting was called to order at 7:30. A moment of silence was held in memory of former SWAC member Steve
Thomases, who passed away in November. The November meeting minutes were unanimously approved as
amended.
Bob collected 2/10 of a pound more in button batteries (none from the DPW or Town Hall). Lynda collected a
handfiil, all from the.Senior, .Center: Bob will call the MassRecycle for more information about collecting and
recycling these batteries.
Bob attended the MassRecycle meeting on November 14. The meeting focused on recycling as a business and the
value of recyclables that are delivered to the correct market.
At the NSRRC meeting, held on November 11, North Shore Recycled Fibers was pushing for a regional transfer
station of newspapers. PRINS, in Charlestown, was discussed by Marblehead, a town that does not sort its
recyclables. Although PRINS has the lowest tipping fee, Marblehead found the 3 hour round-trip to Charlestown
too time-consuming to pursue this facility further.
The library circulation box, in the Barkley Bishop History Room, may be temporarily moved to other areas of the
library by SWAC members for review, and will be returned after the material has been perused.
DPW comments on the status of trash collection and disposal contracts as well as the status of grant applications
were not discussed due to Ted McIntire's absence.
Potential articles for future issues of Reading Notes were discussed. As previously agreed, Ted will produce a piece
on Christmas trees for December, Indira will prepare an article for January on how to do a waste audit. For
February forward. Bob proposed an article that instructs people to disregard the smaller issues related to recycling
(i.e. cardboard not picked up, plastic numbers 3 - 7 not recycled) and to simply focus on recycling. Lynda will
research listing the pros and cons of specific products/materials (i.e. disposable vs. cloth diapers) including
references where readers can obtain more information. This piece will be tailored to Reading and could tie in with
Earth Day.
Bob obtained information from Wheelabrator Environmental Systems, Inc. about recycling rechargeable batteries.
He was awaiting a response from the contact person, Patrick Scanlon. After discussion, the SWAC decided we
should pursue this proposal. Anne will be Wheelabrator's contact person, and Bob will re-submit information
regarding Reading businesses that sell rechargeable batteries (as these would be sites approached to collect the
batteries when used up).
Anne proposed contacting Atlantic Supermarket after the holidays to conduct tours to identify environmentally safe
products. Martha and Ruth discussed alternatives to the current system of recycling white paper for the 9 sites (7
schools, Town Hall and library) in Reading. Before obtaining bids, Martha needs to gather more data on the
volume of paper collected every other month.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Lynda Zarrow