Once-a-Week Recycling Pickup Not Here Yet

The town may move to once-a-week recycled trash pickup as soon as the savings from the reduced trash pickup reaches at least $140,000 a year.

That is the cost of adding a second truck and crew to pick up recycled trash, said Martha Dansdill, the chairman of the town's.

“It is definitely on our radar screen,” she said. A goal of the new trash pickup program that begins Oct. 1 is to move to weekly recycling.

Because the recycled trash is co-mingled, the town does not get paid for its recycled materials, except for paper, which goes up and down in price. “Recycling is not free,” Dansdill said.

But once the town realizes savings from reducing the amount of regular trash, adding more recycling pickups would become possible, she said.

The Board of Selectmen and the Board of Health approved a new weekly trash pickup last month that limits regular trash to three 35-gallon barrels or 30-gallon bags of trash plus one bulky item per week.

Additional trash bags will cost an additional $2 per bag. Those bags must have a special tag that can be purchased at Town Hall or through the mail.

The selectmen agreed to review the fees for additional trash bags prior to June 30, 2012 to decide if they would vote to continue the fee. The health board plans to reduce the number of bags to two next July.

If the town residents can increase their recycling to 20 percent, Board of Health Chairman Martha Dansdill said the town would save $83,000 a year. If it reached the 30 percent mark, the town would save $124,000, and at 33 percent save $136,000, she said.

Swampscott recycles only about 18 percent of its trash, which prompted Selectman Barry Greenfield to call that level “the dark ages.” Swampscott should be at 75 percent recycling, he said.

“The more (regular trash) we throw away, the more we pay,” said Board of Health member Dr. Larry Block.

Neal Duffy, the chairman of the town's said it is a real convenience to have the recycled trash picked up each week. He said he thought weekly pickups would encourage people to recycle more.

But he said once every two weeks pickups have not stopped him from recycling everything he can. “I don't just fill up my bin and stop,” he said.

Recycled materials may include paper products (newspapers, books, magazines, milk cartons, pizza and cereal boxes), cans and bottles (clear, green and brown, metal food cans) and some metal (aluminum trays and empty aerosol cans.) What cannot be recycled includes light bulbs, broken glass or mirrors, grocery bags, styrofoam.

For more information on what can be recycled, visit the town's web site under the health department.