What's the Deal With Smithfield's New Trash System?

In about a month, Smithfield residents should begin seeing something new at their homes — green buckets that will be used for the town's automated trash and recycling pick-up program, set to begin at the end of September.

Smithfield Public Works Director Seth Lemoine explained in a recent email that the new system will cost the town about $6.7 million over the next seven years — a savings of about $600,000 compared to traditional trash and recycling costs.

The new green carts are being purchased by the town at a cost of about $605,000, which may look like a financial wash at first glance — but Lemoine explained that as residents put more recyclable materials in their bins, the town stands to save more money in tipping fees at the Central Landfill in Johnston, run by Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation [RIRRC].

"When recycling rates of a community reach 25 percent, the tipping fee for trash at RIRRC decreases from $32 per ton to $31 per ton, and when recycling at 30 percent, the tipping fee of trash decreases another dollar to $30 per ton," Lemoine wrote. "Smithfield’s recycling rate is currently just under 25 percent. With this new program, we could see a potential of a $2-per-ton savings in trash tipping fees."

That could mean up to $12,000 in savings per year, Lemoine noted, since Smithfield currently dumps about 6,000 tons of trash at the Landfill each year.

And because the new carts are easier to use, larger [65 gal.], and watertight when closed properly, Lemoine said residents could save even more, since they can put more recyclables in the bins — and the town won't be paying to dump rainwater that gets collected in trash barrels.

Smithfield's Trash and Recycling web page states that the program is set to start Oct. 1, though Lemoine noted that it could start on Sept. 30, depending on when the town takes delivery of new disposal trucks.

Lemoine also explained that the new bins should reduce litter on the street because their lids open only when tipped into the trash trucks, and because they're wind-resistant up to 40 mph, meaning "no more blue bins or trash barrels blowing down the street."