Local communities welcome the recycling checks.
FILE PHOTO -- A City of Chicopee recycling truck dumps a load of plastic bottles at the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility at 84 Birnie Ave. SPRINGFIELD -- A total of 77 Western Massachusetts municipalities recycled more than 31,000 tons of plastic, paper, metals and glass during 2011, with the communities receiving more than $1.4 million in payments for the recyclables delivered.
Among the top performing local communities and the payments they received were: Westfield, $102,172; Longmeadow, $91,877; Northampton, $76,592; Holyoke, $76,524; East Longmeadow, $75,921; South Hadley, $66,259; West Springfield, $58,380; and Ludlow, $52,490.
The recyclables were processed at the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility, a public facility owned by the state Department of Environmental Protection and operated by Waste Management Recycle America.
Communities receive a flat payment of $15.67 per ton of recyclables delivered to the Springfield Materials Recycling Center on Birnie Avenue in Springfield.
They also receive a revenue share when the markets buying the recycled material are good.
Because of positive market conditions in 2011, the municipalities got $1.4 million for the recyclables delivered last year, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Through their recycling efforts, the communities saved an estimated $2 million in disposal costs for 2011, the department reports.
The totals for Springfield in the report look low, at $16,631 in payments, but those are only for the School Department.
Gregory Superneau, the Springfield representative on the advisory board of the Birnie Avenue facility advisory board, said the rest of the city’s recyclables go to Waste Management Automated Materials Handling on Tremont Street.
That facility is a single stream, meaning paper and plastic can be placed in the same containers by residents.
Superneau said the city delivered over 81,000 tons to that plant and had over $170,000 in revenue from it.
Karen Bouquillon, an advisory board member and Northampton Solid Waste Management Supervisor, said “Northampton is thrilled with this kind of revenue.”
She said Northampton’s numbers are especially impressive since it is the only “drop off community” that has been able to achieve such high revenues.
Northampton does not have curbside collection and only serves half the population, she said.
Barry Searle, a board member and Westfield deputy health director, said, “We’re obviously very pleased to receive these checks and it is a confirmation of robust programs that are out here in Western Massachusetts.”
He said the materials recycling facility in Western Massachusetts has one of the most favorable payment system in place compare to other such facilities in the state.
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. said, “Diverting these materials minimizes the energy used for extraction of resources necessary to produce the plastic, metal and paper we use every day, and provides real environmental benefits to Massachusetts residents.”
Once the sorted recyclable materials are sold, they are made into hardcover book board, game board, new metal cans, polyester fiber from plastic bottles, and even new recycling bins.
In 2011, residents were allowed to recycle two new items: empty non-hazardous aerosol cans, and clear plastic clamshell packaging.
Empty aerosol cans that once contained health and beauty products, food products, air freshener, and laundry products can now be recycled in local programs.
The recycling facility is also accepting clear plastic clamshell packaging – the hinged containers found in the produce, deli and bakery departments at local grocery stores.
