Town Considers Curbside Textile Recycling

The Rochester Board of Selectmen likes the sound of a possible savings in trash and recycling costs by adding a curbside service that will collect old, used textiles right alongside residents’ recycling bins.

Stephen Lisauskas of WasteZero, a waste reduction company, told the Rochester Board of Selectmen on September 17 that clothing, shoes, and other cloth items like old drapes, bedspreads, and towels make up about 10 percent of the solid waste stream in southeastern Massachusetts, as opposed to 6 percent statewide. It is also one of the top 5 contaminants in single-stream recycling, “which creates all sorts of problems curbside,” said Lisauskas. According to Lisauskas, about 95 percent of textiles thrown away are recyclable.

Those old sweaters and jeans that are not fit for donation or resale, Lisauskas said, “we don’t need to destroy them.” There are companies that will recycle the material.

These textile recycling companies take used clothes and cloth and find the best use for them, whether they are sent directly to used clothing retailers or salvaged by grinding the material up for manufacturing carpet padding and sound insulation among other things.

The process is simple, said Lisauskas. WasteZero will provide each residence with two pink plastic bags to fill with unwanted textiles. Those bags can be left out on the curb beside the blue recycle bins, and a WasteZero van would follow the same municipal curbside trash/recycling route on the regular pickup day. WasteZero will retrieve the two bags and leave two more in its place tied to the handle of the recycle bin so they don’t blow away.

The cost to the Town: $0.

Furthermore, WasteZero will reimburse the Town $20 per ton of textiles collected.

WasteZero would handle the public outreach by mailing out informational postcards to residents as well as the pink bags. Lisauskas said anyone could call WasteZero for any number of additional bags at anytime and they will deliver them.

“And if they don’t want to do it, they don’t have to, but it’s an option for folks,” said Lisauskas.

“It sounds too simple,” said Selectmen Chairman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley.

“How do we sign up?” Selectman Brad Morse quickly added.

Lisauskas said once the board approved the service, a contract could be signed and the service would likely begin within six to eight weeks.

“As simple as that,” said Hartley.

The selectmen asked the town administrator to contact neighboring Middleboro, the first town in the southeastern part of the state to employ the service, for feedback before agreeing to sign on, and town counsel would then review the contract.

In other business, the board appointed Police Officer Nathan Valente to the rank of sergeant.

Valente has been an officer with Rochester since February 2014, and took the sergeant exam this past February, scoring well, said Police Chief Robert Small. Valente has also completed field training officer school, is now certified as a field training officer, and has already trained several new officers this year.

“It’s always great to have the opportunity to promote and to promote from within,” said Hartley.

The selectmen also voted to pass on exercising its right of first refusal for property located at 0 Mary’s Pond Road, the site of the old Boy Scouts camp. The Conservation Commission on September 4 voted to recommend that the board exercise its right of first refusal and consider purchasing the land, while the Planning Board recommended the board not exercise its right of first refusal.

“Right now we just don’t have the funds,” Hartley said.

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for October 1 at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

 

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