Supervisor’s Notes

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

RECYCLING CHANGES
1-16-2011

The Town of Wheatfield has entered into a new three-year contract with Modern Disposal for refuse and recycling services . Included in the contract are some changes in recycling which will greatly reduce our costs and, hopefully, lead to more recycling on the part of Wheatfield residents and businesses. The more we recycle, the lower our costs will be.

We have ordered 65 gallon recycling totes sufficient for every residence and most businesses within Wheatfield. These are high quality, easy to store, easy to handle totes which will make recycling even easier than now. They come with a strong cover which should greatly lessen the mess created from hand totes where wind blows papers and plastic all over your neighborhood! And they come with a 10-year full replacement warranty.

Until these totes arrive, everything remains as it is now. Once the totes arrive they will be distributed to each residence in Wheatfield. We expect that the carts will be delivered around the last two weeks on March; we will give you a more definite delivery date as production times are set. At that time, we will switch recycling only to every other week pick-up. Garbage will continue to be picked up weekly, just as it has been. However, we will have recycled materials picked up every second week on an alternating basis. We will have more information to come as to when your street will be picked up.

I am asking that everyone please give the new system a fair try for 3 months. Try the new totes, recycle as much as is right for you. There is no need to sort everything. Simply put, if your refuse contains garbage or food stuffs, it is refuse. If it is paper or plastic, glass or metal it can be recycled. Put it into your totes and roll it out to the street when it is your week to pick up. Perhaps you only gather enough recycling to pick up once per month? No problem, roll it out only once per month. Recycled materials won’t attract insects as will garbage.

The tote has a footprint the size of a normal garbage can, and rolls easily. If it is too large for your garage, it can be left outside in a nook. You could keep your hand tote and, when full, carry this over and dump into the tote. Make it work as simply as possible for you.

We so have a plan in place for a half-sized tote. I still ask that you give the larger tote a fair chance. After that, if you are disabled or a senior citizen who just can’t use the larger totes, fill out a simple questionnaire and we’ll exchange the larger units for a 35 gallon tote. You can still keep your hand totes for any use, including recycling. Modern will continue to pick up recycling material in the hand carriers.

Last year we paid $1,025,000 for refuse/recycling services. We expected this to go up in 2012 and we budgeted additional funds. The cost of refuse/recycling will be substantially reduced going forward sufficiently that the Town can buy the totes this year, and greatly reduce the refuse tax next and in subsequent years. We expect the cost to be as low as $ 850,000 for 2013 and beyond.

Increased recycling with every other week pick-up is a major win/win for all Wheatfield residents and for our environment. Modern will rebate approximately 50% of the value of everything we recycle instead of charging to place it in a land fill.

More to come in the coming months.

Bob Cliffe