By Meredith McCulloch
Beginning on July 1, Bedford streets will be lined with 64-gallon royal blue recycling carts under a refuse and recycling contract with Republic Services. The new carts will be supplied by the contractor to each resident at no charge.
The cart will be used for “single stream recycling” with the collection of all allowed recyclable materials — bottles, cans, and paper — all going into the same container.
All material to be collected must be in the cart and cannot be placed beside it. A truck equipped with a robotic arm will pick up the container and empty it into the truck. There will be no need for the driver to leave the truck. Residents will have the option of substituting a smaller cart instead of the 64-gallon standard.
To facilitate collections, residents will be asked to place the cart at the curbside with no obstacles, such as mailboxes, poles, fences, or trees within three feet of it. The handle and wheels should be on the side away from the street.
There is no cost to residents for the carts which will be provided to each household as part of the new contract. Recycling will continue to be collected each week on Monday. The Selectmen approved the five-year contract on February 25 at a cost of $949,000 for the first year. Residents may keep the original grey bins if they find them useful, but Public Works will also arrange for recycling them later.
Food Waste and Composting
The new contract also provides for a one-year pilot project where the contractor would pick up food waste from selected municipal locations for composting.
One way to reduce trash disposal costs is to reduce the amount of food waste that is collected. It is typically heavy and therefore increases the cost of tipping fees at the incinerator. The Town will test collecting such waste from Bedford’s four schools, the fire station, and Town Center. No start date for the pilot project has been determined yet.
Some Bedford families have contracted privately for pickup of food waste to be turned into compost. Mothers Out Front has encouraged this effort, and more local subscribers are sought in order to bring the per-household cost down.
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