Some Residents Strongly Against RecycleWorks Facility

BRAINTREE, MA — To say that the residents who attended what turned into a very free-flowing and vocal informational session on a proposed private recycling facility on West Street are against it would be an understatement. They are extremely against the idea of any new trucks or operations on their road.

About 30 residents from the West Street attended the session, which saw representatives of RecycleWorks explain what could be moving into their neighborhood. Daniel Buonagurio, the Recycleworks president, is hoping to obtain a special permit from the planning board which would allow him to move his business from Weymouth to the back portion of a 127,000-square-foot building at 530 West St., which is located in an industrially zoned area.

Buonagurio told residents that his business recycles beverages that are not longer fit for sale such as beer, soda, juice, and milk from private clients. While recycling does happen inside the building, he was adamant that his operation is not a recycling center.

“A recycling center is open to third-party trucks, towns, vendors, and all and this is not a recycling center,” Buonagurio said. “We have nothing to do with trash transfers or recycling centers. We are not open to the public. We are self-contained.”

Buonagurio said that because his business is private, he can dictate the truck routes and said he will not have the often congested Five Corners intersection as part of the route.

“I can absolutely mandate that. I will have strict guidelines and controls over that. I prefer the Forbes Boulevard loop in and out of West Street,” he said.

That route would have trucks on West Street for a much shorter period of time than compared to other routes, but residents at the meeting said there are already too many trucks on the road and this would only add to the traffic and noise.

A traffic report indicates that the operation would add an average of two trucks an hour. Carl Johnson, a lawyer representing Recycleworks, said the planning board could add conditions to protect the neighbors on the street.

RecycleWorks would operate Monday through Friday and Saturday mornings.

RecycleWorks goes in front of the planning board Aug. 14.

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