Second Option Provided for Recycling

In response to complains from residents, EL Harvey & Sons has provided a smaller container for recycling.

A 96-gallon wheeled toter will be provided to all residents, as was previously discussed. Residents who prefer a smaller container then can have the larger toter swapped for a 32-gallon bin.

At a recent public hearing on the plan to switch from the current smaller bins to a toter system, residents complained about the large size and the difficulty in maneuvering the toters.

About 99 percent of residents will end up keeping the 96-gallon toters, company representative B.J. Harvey predicted.

Selectman Peter Adams raised concerns about complains he had received from households with exceptionally long driveways. Neither size would work for these residents, he said.

These residents are encouraged to contact the Recycling Committee, which will work with Harvey to come up with workable options.

The new system will likely encourage further recycling, Town Administrator Timothy McInerney said. 

Since the town began recycling, the costs of trash hauling has been reduced from $460,000 to $230,000, he said. He anticipated an additional 10 percent increase in the numbers of households that recycle with the larger bins.

Some residents at the public hearing had questioned how the town benefits from these proposed changes. Recycling "saves the town money,'' he said.

The current bins used by residents can be donated to the school department, which Recycling Committee member Doreen DeFazio said is chronically short of recycling bins.

"The new school alone is going to need one in every room,'' she said of the new Grafton High School.

The toter change will go into effect June 1.