Full of Scrap Newsletter- December 16, 2020 |
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Your source for recycling & waste reduction news in the Northeast (and beyond). |
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Update to Best Management Practices for Recycling Facilities During COVID-19 |
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Friday, December 18, 2020
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm EST
Do you have questions or concerns about how your municipality can continue to operate its essential trash and recycling services as safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the recent surge in cases?
Join the recycling nonprofit Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) and Dr. Ben Locwin, an expert on infectious disease epidemiology, for a much-anticipated second webinar to discuss COVID-19 best management practices for recycling and solid waste facilities.
The webinar will be held on Friday, December 18 from 1 to 2:30 pm EST. This webinar is FREE and open to all.
Dr. Locwin will present on issues that are top of mind during the spike in COVID-19 cases, including the status of developing a vaccine, the best types of masks based on scientific studies, what we know about surface transmission, and how to effectively ventilate buildings and vehicles as we approach winter.
Following his presentation, Dr. Locwin will answer attendee questions submitted in advance of the webinar, then answer attendee questions live as time allows. He will be joined by NRRA Executive Director Reagan Bissonnette and Member Services Manager Bonnie Bethune for this conversation.
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Join by Computer or Phone; Can't Attend Live?
This event will be held using Go To Webinar. Attendees are encouraged to join the webinar from their computer or smart phone, but attendees may also join by phone call only. Participants joining by phone only will only be able to hear the webinar and can only submit questions in advance, not ask them live during the webinar.
Can't attend live? Register to receive the webinar recording by email the following week.
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NHPR: In Tight Economy, Recycling Group Urges New Approach to Local Glass Recycling |
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By Annie Ropeik, NHPR Reporter
The region’s recyclers are encouraging towns to cut costs during the economic downturn of COVID-19 by trying new ways of reusing their glass.
Reagan Bissonnette is executive director of the nonprofit Northeast Resource Recovery Association. She says it’s been a couple of years since the sudden closure of the region’s main facility, in Massachusetts, that recycled glass bottles and jars.
Since then, she says more towns have been sending their glass to landfills, adding weight and expense to their trash hauling costs even during the economic strain of the pandemic.
Bissonnette wants more towns to take advantage of cheaper, local options that she says get more value out of that glass.
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Dennis Patnoe Recalls 24 Years of Service at Lancaster, NH during Monthly MOM Meeting |
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A good crowd of well-wishers attended NRRA's monthly MOM meeting virtually to listen to Dennis Patnoe present about the history of Lancaster, NH's Transfer Station. Several volunteered their words of thanks and congratulations upon his retirement as the Station Supervisor at the end of this month. Dennis was awarded NRRA's highest honor of the Sam Izzo "Recycler of the Year" Award in 1994 and has served on NRRA's board of trustees for 18 years.
Lancaster, NH's station began in 1942 next to the town burn dump and transitioned into a landfill in the 1960s. Dennis remembers that he heard there was an opening at the station in 1997and started asking questions to the Town Manager at the time. Once they knew he was interested, they asked him when he would start! He has been there for the last twenty-four years. When he began work, there was one storage trailer and one unheated workspace with one baler. They did the best job they could with what they had. Today, Lancaster has sixteen storage trailers, a demolition grinder plus two open tops, four vertical balers, a bobcat, a glass pulverizer (which they use for the base for solar panels and for the Transfer Station foundation), a waste oil heater, and they compost as well.
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Household Hazardous Waste Events 2020 Clean Out! |
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It certainly was the year for residents to clean out their garages, basements, and cabinets! NRRA coordinated 17 Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Events in 2020. Member communities offered them from April to November and nearly 18,000 gallons of HHW was collected from NH residents in total. The photo shows examples of what was collected at a Warner, NH event. Most events occurred on a Saturday morning from 8am - noon but some were held on Sundays.
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Will You Help Us Keep Recycling Strong? |
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Did you know that the Northeast Resource Recovery Association is one of only a handful of nonprofits in the entire country that offers a recyclables marketing cooperative model?
This means that we directly connect sellers of recyclable commodities to purchasers of those commodities. Last year, we returned over $1.8 million to our members from the sale of their recyclables and enabled our members to recycle enough material to remove the equivalent of 22,393 passenger cars from the road for an entire year. Read More
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Press Release: School Recycling Awards Announced |
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Maple Street Elementary School,
Contoocook, NH
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Chris Asbell, Somersworth Middle School, Somersworth, NH |
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Girl Scout Troop 11305, Fuller Elementary School, Keene, NH |
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The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) has announced the recipients of its 2019-2020 School Recycling Club Awards. The award winners are:
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School Recycler of the Year Award – Maple Street Elementary School, Contoocook, NH
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Teacher Recycler of the Year Award – Chris Asbell, Somersworth Middle School, Somersworth, NH
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Student Recyclers of the Year Award – Girl Scout Troop 11305, Fuller Elementary School, Keene, NH
NRRA’s School Recycling Club (the Club) is a program for all schools in New England (and beyond). Designed for students and teachers in grades K-12, the Club enables schools to become more active in the world of recycling. Through its workshops, technical assistance, and recycling curricula, the Club is a fun and innovative way to give students encouragement, direction and networking opportunities to enhance school recycling programs. The Club is supported in part by New Hampshire the Beautiful, a non-profit funded by food and beverage companies.
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NRRA Summer Webinar Recording Spotlight: BMPs for Managing e-Waste at NH Transfer Stations
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Tara Albert, the SWOT Coordinator at New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services, discussed electronic waste management at solid waste transfer stations in NH in this recorded webinar. Listen to the state’s definition of electronic waste and how it differs from that of their vendor; and how that definition determines compliance with the law. She reviewed best management practices on making e-waste collection work at your facility; how to market the items that your facility collects regularly; and tips on choosing the right vendor and why.
NRRA recently announced that Eighteen presentations that would have been available at our annual conference are ready to be watched and are available to all and that NRRA Members can watch them for FREE.
New Hampshire solid waste operators will receive one hour of continuing education credit for each webinar for participating.
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The December NRRA Pricing Guide is Now Available |
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Our website has a section that houses the NRRA Monthly Pricing Guide as well as many other pricing lists. These pricing lists are only accessible to NRRA Municipal Voting Members. If you are an NRRA Municipal Voting Member and want access to this part of the website, simply visit the site to create your new username and password.
The Fiber market continues to improve as does Scrap Metal and Aluminum Cans. Read Bonnie Bethune's full market update for December.
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Date Change! Virtual Tour of ecomaine's Facilities
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Wednesday, January 13, 2021
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Save the date for a private virtual tour of ecomaine's material recovery facility and waste-to-energy facility. As we are unable to hold our popular Fall Bus Tour in 2020 due to the pandemic, we are pleased to offer this virtual tour in lieu of our February Member Operations Marketing Meeting.
This live tour will provide municipal members with a behind-the-scenes look at ecomaine's operations at their facilities in Portland, Maine.
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Announcements:
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Update to Best Management Practices for Recycling Facilities During COVID Webinar - December 18, 2020; 1:00PM-2:30PM
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NRRA CLOSING EARLY - Monday, December 21, 2020 at 2:30 PM
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NRRA CLOSED- Christmas Day, December 25, 2020
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NRRA CLOSED- New Year's Day, January 1, 2021
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Virtual Facility Tour of ecomaine - Wednesday, January 13, 2021; 9:00AM-10:30AM
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NRRA Classifieds
Do you have a job opening you need to fill or used equipment to sell? Submit it to us at info@nrrarecycles.org and we'll share it on our website and in future issues of Full of Scrap.
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What We're Reading & Other News
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Northeast Resource Recovery Association
Epsom, NH 03234
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