By Kim Siebert MacPhail
A recent interview with Department of Public Works Director Rich Warrington paints a rosy picture of the new trash system that was begun in October 2011 after much controversy and anxiety.
The new automated trucks combined with the 48-gallon refuse carts have resulted in quicker pick-ups, decreases in refuse tonnage, increased recycling, increases in paper rebates, and no additional incident of illegal dumping.Warrington reports cost savings to the town of $53,117 in tipping fees in just the last nine months. (Tipping fees are based on refuse tonnage weighed at the incinerator)
In addition, the 48-gallon carts are comparatively sturdy and Warrington believes the new automated system also results in what he calls “a gentler experience” for the cart. Allied Waste, the refuse removal contractor who also repairs any damaged containers, reports that most of the problems to date have come from squirrels gnawing through the cart-tops in search of food.
One perplexing issue is that although the amount of refuse has declined, recycling hasn’t increased by a comparable amount. Warrington speculates that the differential suggests that residents are making different purchasing decisions and re-using or donating items they might before have thrown out.
He says that the DPW has also given out over 1,000 “Bottles and Cans” stickers intended tolabel old containers as auxiliary recycling bins. “It’s amazing to me that I see these bins full each week on the curbside,” he remarked.
To counter the complaint that the former system was more generous or comprehensive in what could be disposed of, Warrington said, “This system is just as good as the old one but with more efficiencies. Residents do need to plan ahead more when they want to get rid of large items that they used to place on the sidewalk for pick up. But there’s monetary savings as well as operational savings. There are fewer trucks and fewer people.”
Warrington stressed, however, that the contractor— Allied Waste— did not lay off any of the people who were displaced by automation. Allied, he said, trained those crew members to become drivers. Many of the same staff who drove in Bedford before are still on routes in town.
Loading ...
Also good questions, Pam! Looks like we need to do a Q and A on recycling. Many thanks, also, for your encouragement and support!
i too have had questions about some of the items i recycle. it will be good to get answers. peanut butter jars? shelf stable milk containers? which batteries go where? so far very excited about bedford citizen.- and kim”s curiosity. thanks to you all.
Kim, what a waste of money for the town to pay someone 16 hours a week (plus perks) to answer questions. Why not someone spend a few hours creating a FAQ and put the answers on the regular DPM mailings to homes. This is a great example of why people continue to lose confidence in town government by wasting money on hiring someone just for that function.
I didn’t mean to imply that answering questions was the only job this person would have. As I understand it, this person would also go along the routes to see how people are doing with the system and maybe do other things I’m not aware of–although 16 hours is not a lot of time.
In any case, I’m not in a position to speak about what I don’t know–I was just reporting what I did know to lead Janet to a place where she could could get answers to her questions. If you have concerns about the hire, calling either the DPW or a Selectman to express them is probably the best route to take.
understood – you are the messenger. The questions by Janet on recycling and how we can help are important. I have no idea why DPW and Town Officials have not proactively shared what we should be doing already in the Bedford Byline or other town mailings? Should we be washing out empty spaghetti sauce jars out so thoroughly? Sadly, CNBC did a report two years ago that found that most that goes in the recycling bins gets disposed of and not recycled since the cost/process to recycle does not make sense… especially, sad after towns and individuals spend so much to prepare,segregate and collect recycling separately.
As for cost of this person to do what sounds like should be done by existing staff, it seems crazy since this one 16 hour hire would erase 50 to 100% percent of the cost savings of the new waste pick-up program.
Hi Janet,
Good questions!
What I do know is that the DPW is about to hire a 16 hr/wk recycling coordinator who will, according to Rich Warrington, answer questions just like yours and educate the public in a variety of ways.
Once the new hire is on board, we can do a piece on her and the job she’ll do.She’s expected to be on board soon and brings a lot of experience with her. Once she gets here, we’ll do an article so people will know how and when to contact her.
Thanks for your comment and guiding us toward another good article for The Citizen!
Kim
Thanks for the info., Kim! I look forward to hearing more about this in The Citizen.
I’ve been wondering for a long time about how recycling works in Bedford. Could there be an article (or presentation?) about how the mixed plastic/bottles/cans are processed? One thing I’ve been wondering about is the efficiency of “cleaning” items that will be recycled – I could use tons of water and soap to clean out a bottle of waterproof suntan lotion, but maybe it would be recycled just as easily (and without the waste of water) if I didn’t wash it out so well? What about the metal rings around bottles – would it speed/cheapen recycling if we removed them? What happens when they get a recyclable bottle with a cap that is not recyclable – do they discard the whole thing or do they have the means to remove the cap? If I’m not sure if something is recyclable, should I put it in the box or will that increase processing costs enough that I’m hurting the system?
I am asking these questions so that more can be recycled – I want to do my part, and I think some education could help everyone make the system be more efficient and earth-friendly.
Thanks for listening.