By Julie McCay Turner
Saturday’s Department of Public Works Recycle Day dawned cold and wet, but Bedford’s Recycling Coordinator Ed McGrath’s voice was beaming when he described the 428 cars that made their way through the DPW parking, dropping off materials to be recycled at eight stations along the way.
There were collection stations for computers, printers, appliances and electronic waste; construction debris from remodeling or repair projects; Styrofoam; scrap metal; auto batteries, CFLs, and fluorescent bulbs; and finally paper to be shredded. A recycling company collected clothing, books/CDs/DVDs, small household goods, toys and stuffed animals to be reused.
One of Saturday’s recyclers had recently attended a similar event in another community and boasted that he collected more in the first half-hour at Bedford than was brought to that entire event. One industrial-strength dumpster was filled with construction debris and another with scrap metal.
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According to McGrath the collection generated
- 6,000 pounds of paper turned in for shredding
- 175 pounds of Styrofoam (a full truckload)
- 78 20-lb. propane tanks (grill tanks), 51 camping tanks, 36 fire extinguishers, 6 helium tanks and a scuba tank
- A pallet of lead acid batteries and 4 5-gallon pails of assorted rechargeable batteries (alkaline batteries can go in regular trash)
- 2.5 drums of 4-foot fluorescent tubes
- 9 boxes of CFL bulbs and
- 2 buckets of mercury thermostats and thermometers.
The paper shredding truck, e-waste truck and Styrofoam truck left with full loads of recyclable material, and Recycle That estimates that they collected 3,000 pounds of clothing, books/CDs/DVDs, and small household appliances for reuse.
Recycling is a passion for McGrath who has served his hometown Recycling Committee for several years. “We’re just providing the opportunity for people to do the right thing,” he said of today’s event that will keep waste out of landfills.
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