Monday, January 9, 2012
The town has received a grant with Salem and Marblehead for a plastics drop-off location in Salem.
The town of Swampscott along with Salem and Marblehead was awarded a $10,500 grant by the Department of Environmental Protection. This funding will allow a bulky rigid plastics recycling drop-off at the Newark Group recycled fibers facility at 53 Jefferson Avenue in Salem. Residents of all three communities can drop off their clean rigid bulky plastics. Johnny Gold, Senior Vice President of the Newark Group, remarked “this is the most recent collaboration between the Newark Group and the surrounding communities. Bulky rigid plastics have become a commodity, and we welcome the opportunity to provide recycling for another challenging waste stream item. This is a win-win for the three communities involved.” The program is currently …
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
People are tossing flood-soaked items; and others are claiming them.
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- Terry Date
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Renee LaLone and her mom cruised the neighborhood slowly Tuesday morning, casting eyes side-to-side. There. They spied a white rocking chair and plucked it. It was in a curbside pile fronting a home off Paradise Road. Renee wedged the rocker into the back of her car, and the two shoved off for the next stop — yet to be discovered. Welcome to the Swampscott world of trash-to-treasure recycling. Chairs and desks, and couches and cabinets that once sat inside homes now stand outside them in the wake of last week’s flash flooding in town. There’s plenty of competition for the stuff. The mother-daughter-duo didn’t know it but they beat the competition to the rocking chair. A woman in a new looking mini-van who had just salvaged furniture from…
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Haulers rejected 20 to 30 trash bags on the first day under the new three-bag limit.
Monday marked the start of new trash pick-up rules — a three-bag limit to promote recycling in Swampscott. Board of Health Chairwoman Martha Dansdill surveyed the curbside Monday as she drove Essex, Burrill and Foster Pond areas. She saw about eight rejections stickers. Most households with rejected bags called the town Health Office and arranged for a truck to return for the bags. They also had to buy overthrow stickers. The return-truck service will be available this week only, she said. The chairwoman said the committee did a lot of outreach to let people know the new rules were coming. She thinks compliance will continue to improve in weeks to come. "We expect some bumps in the road," Dansdill said. Town Health Director Jeff Vaughan …
Monday, October 3, 2011
Learn about the new program for boosting recycling rates in town. The 3-bag limit starts Oct. 3.
- NEWS
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Monday, October 3, 2011
This Q&A was submitted by Martha Dansdill of the Board of Health. Q: Why is Swampscott adopting a Waste Reduction Program (WRP)? The Waste Reduction Program will maximize recycling which, in turn, reduces trash amounts and related trash disposal costs to the Town. This makes good fiscal sense. By adopting a WRP, Swampscott is poised to save $80K to $100K annually. Q: When will this happen? What is different? Beginning October 3, 2011, each individual household will be allowed up to three bags or barrels of trash per week. All trash must be placed in either a 35-gallon barrel or less or a 30-gallon trash bag or less for pick up. On July 1, 2012, there will be a two bag or barrel limit. Barrels larger than 35 gallons can be used to hold …
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-70.917193
Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
/articles/qa-on-recycling-program
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Town must save at least $140,000 a year on reduced trash before it can afford additional pickups.
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 health board. “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 …
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
The plan still needs the Board of Selectmen to approve a fee for the pickup of trash that exceeds the limit.
More than a dozen speakers took the floor at a crowded public hearing Tuesday on a proposal to limit free trash pick-up in town by charging $2 per bag for trash that exceeds the limit. Most of the speakers at Town Hall said they support the changes. Several of them said their positions were anchored by environmental concern and protecting future generations from pollution and depleted resources. “We do not live on a planet that has infinite resources,” said Catherine Esteverena. A few speakers who oppose the plan say they agree with the goal of waste reduction but not the means of getting there. Tony Scibelli said he prefers that the town educate people on the benefits of trash reduction through greater recycling so people can make up …
42.47002
-70.917193
Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
/articles/trash-proposal-enjoys-support-at-hearing
771753
/locations/4886984
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Board of Health will accept public comments tonight on a plan to limit free pick-up of trash containers to three per household.
The Board of Health proposes a phased-in plan to encourage recycling. The first step would take effect Oct. 1 and allow free disposal of up to three trash containers per household each week. The second step would take effect July 2012. Households would be allowed free disposal of two trash containers. In either case, residents who exceed the limit would need to buy a sticker to have the additional trash picked up. The plan would need approval by the Board of Selectmen. Board Chairman Matt Strauss opposes charging people fees for throwing out trash, arguing that residents already pay taxes for trash pick-up. "I can't get beyond the fee," he told selectmen last week. Board of Health members say the plan will boost recycling and save money. …
42.47002
-70.917193
Swampscott Town Hall
22 Monument Ave, Swampscott, MA
/articles/recycling-hearing-tonight
771753
/locations/4879569
Linda Goldstein
8:59 am on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I was just thinking the same thing about trash picking. And, in fact, I put my soda cans in a box on top of my recycling bin in the hope that someone who needs the money (or is industrious enough to collect cans to earn some) will take them. more ›