Upcoming Events
Mass Municipal Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show
January 24 and 25,
Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel
Click Here for details
MassDEP's Waste Reduction Enforcement Coordinator Workshop
February 13, 10am to 1pm
MassDEP NE Regional Office
205B Lowell Street, Wilmington, MA 01887
Click here for details
Cape Cod Pay-As-You-Throw Workshop
SAVE THE DATE Saturday, March 1 Location and exact time TBA DSM Environmental, a solid waste consulting firm, will share the latest information and trends, discuss challenges, and take questions related to PAYT programs. The workshop is being sponsored by the Massachusetts Recycling Challenge.
Paint Stewardship Stakeholder Meeting
Wed, March 12, 9am - noon.
Middleborough Town Hall
10 Nickerson Ave, Middleborough, MA
MassRecycling R3 Conference & Trade Show
Tuesday, April 8th, 9AM - 6PM,
Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center
Click here for details
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Household Hazardous Waste
For more information on proper disposal of hazardous materials, please call the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension at 508-375-6698.
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A ReStore is a place to buy or donate used furniture, appliances, door and windows, and building supplies. All their merchandise is sold at significant discounts. All sales support Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod.
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If a business needs help setting up a recycling program- you now have a number to give them. Call (888) 254-5525 or email info@RecyclingWorksMA.com The Recycling Works program is run by the Center for Eco Technology, under a contract with MassDEP. Click here to learn how to install the RecyclingWorks widget on your local website. |
THE GREEN TEAM is an interactive educational program that empowers students and teachers to help the environment through waste reduction, recycling, composting, energy conservation and pollution prevention. Participating classes receive certificates of recognition and are eligible to win awards.
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Funded in part through a grant from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protections
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Contact Me:
Dave Quinn Regional Waste Reduction Coordinator, Barnstable County dquinn@barnstablecounty.org (508) 375-6974
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How Much Trash Do We Throw Out?
Here's an updated map of trash disposal numbers for all municipalities in Massachusetts, shown in pounds per household served (trash from private haulers is not included). The numbers are based on data submitted to MassDEP in last year's Solid Waste and Recycling Survey. (click here for a downloadable PDF version of the map)
 If you have questions about the data, please let me know.
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Covanta to Operate Regional Transfer Station in Yarmouth
The Town of Yarmouth and Covanta SEMASS have reached an agreement for SEMASS to manage operations of the Yarmouth Regional Transfer Station. The 10-year agreement, which begins on February 1, 2014, will allow municipal and commercial customers to continue using the facility for MSW disposal via rail to SEMASS and offer expanded recycling opportunities.
According to Tom Cipolla, Covanta is looking to expand recycling options at the facility to include single stream recycling (SSR), e-waste, and other difficult-to-manage waste. To offer these expanded recycling services, Covanta plans to partner with a major recycling facility in Massachusetts. Many private haulers on Cape Cod offer single stream recycling to their customers, however, there are no single stream recycling facilities on Cape Cod (commonly called Materials Recovery Facilities or MRFs). The Yarmouth facility may be able to provide a local options for haulers to deliver the material, which SEMASS would then haul to a MRF.
Click here for the SEMASS press release and here for the related Cape Cod Times article.
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Styrofoam Recycling in Barnstable & Brewster
On January 11th, the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension sponsored a Styrofoam recycling event at the Barnstable Transfer Station. The event was held as a trial project to collect information about the feasibility of recycling Styrofoam at transfer stations on the Cape. ReFoamIt of Leominster, MA was on-site to assist with the Styrofoam collection along with several volunteers from AmeriCorps Cape Cod.
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Before: ReFoamIt's 24-foot landscaping trailer at the beginning for the day in Barnstable. Between foam collected in Barnstable & Brewster, this trailer was completely full at the end of the day.
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During the four hour event in Barnstable, about 60 people dropped off Styrofoam, filling about a quarter of ReFoamIt's 24-foot landscaping trailer. Feedback from residents positive - those who attended told us that they appreciated the opportunity to recycle Styrofoam and hoped that we would offer it again in the future.
Later that day, ReFoamIt picked up a 40CY roll-off container of Styrofoam at the Brewster Recycling Center that had been filled by residents over the previous three weeks. We weighed all of the foam from the 40CY container we found that it was only 280 pounds. To put this in perspective, a full trailer load of trash from Brewster weighs around 22 tons. This goes to show why Styrofoam is such a difficult material to manage - it's incredible light-weight and high-volume.
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After: Foam compressed into large blocks at ReFoamIt's facility . The ration of loose foam to compressed foam is about 50:1.
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The collections in Barnstable and Brewster provided some useful data to help figure out how to manage Styrofoam in the future. In order for foam to be recycled in cost effective manner, it must be compacted on-site before being hauled to a processor; even then, it can be an expensive and labor intensive material to manage. Using data collected at the event, I will be researching options for equipment to compact foam on-site at transfer stations, which would help to lower hauling costs. Stay tuned.
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What Happened to Got Books?
Got Books is a recycling vendor that has provided free containers with slots to schools, libraries, and transfer stations for the collection of undamaged used CDs, DVDs, tapes, records, sports cards and comic books and often pay municipalities a small per ton fee for the material.
Recently, however, many towns across the state have reported difficulties contacting Got Books and have seen a lapse in their services.
In a letter posted on the company's website, its president, Bob Ticehurst, explained that Got Books has been sold and it's operations will be taken over by "multiple companies." For those who still have full containers or unpaid bills, please click here to read the full letter for more information. Other vendors that provide similar services to municipalities include the nonprofits More Than Words and Big Hearted Books and may be worth calling if you continue to have trouble with your Got Books containers. |
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In the News
Here are a few solid waste and recycling related stories from around the Cape and beyond. Click on the underlined links below to read the full articles.
Orleans opts for new waste disposal firm - Cape Cod Times, January 22, 2014. Read Article...
Wellfleet Selectmen aim to ease concerns about 'pay as you throw'. Cape Cod Times. January 16, 2014. Read Article...
Role of Recycling Grows in Provincetown. Provincetown Banner. January 14, 2014 Read Article...
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