Recycling-The Time is Now

If you haven’t noticed yet, the Town is making a big push on recycling. Kicked-off in September with a banner in the Center, information on recycling has been inserted in the property tax bills, included in a recent On-Line Newsletter, and in materials heading home with schoolchildren later this month. New signs and recycling containers will be appearing at the Transfer Station soon. Recycling is important to the Town because it saves money. Every ton of paper that is recycled will save the Town over $75. Since funding for the Town’s solid waste operation is derived primarily from fees, this savings will be realized directly by Winchester residents. Recycling also helps sustain our environment. It makes so much sense to reuse products rather than burn or bury them.

Recycling is coming a bit late to Winchester. Over the last twenty years, the Town was involved in a very unfavorable solid waste contract that actually made it costly to recycle. This contract required the Town to pay for tons of trash that it didn’t deliver, making it difficult to justify generating less trash. Fortunately, this contract is over and the Town is now paying for the actual tons it delivers. Recycling trash avoids the $75/ton disposal charge and can generate additional revenue. This is especially the case with paper.

Recently, a group of graduate students from Tufts University studied the Town’s solid waste system. They completed a survey of residents that confirmed a flaw in the Town’s system- the Transfer Station facility is congested, making it inconvenient and difficult to recycle. The Town has acknowledged this problem and has solutions to solve it. However, the Transfer Station is built upon a former landfill and incinerator facility that makes modifications costly and subject to state environmental review. We are on the verge of a breakthrough with this issue and are hoping to design improvements later this year.

Meanwhile, we encourage all residents to make an extra effort and develop a recycling plan for your home. Start with paper- it is the most important aspect of the waste stream. You may combine newspapers, junk mail, magazines and office paper all in one container and deposit it is the applicable bin at the Transfer Station.

Please recycle- the time is now!