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02/19/2020 11:00 PMA new Waste and Recycling Task Force has been convened in Old Saybrook to evaluate transfer station operations with the goal of reducing waste and disposal costs to the town.
The five members were appointed by the Board of Selectmen. First Selectman Carl P. Fortuna, Jr., serves as an ex-officio member.
“There’s no politics involved,” Fortuna said, adding that he believes the group consists of one Republican, two Democrats, and two unaffiliated voters. “These are smart people and they’re engaged.”
Fortuna has long been concerned about issues related to trash and recycling. Costs to municipalities across the state are increasing as opportunities for disposal disappear. New England’s only remaining landfill for residential waste is in Rhode Island, for example, and that facility will close within the next few years.
Currently, the town delivers its waste to the state’s main facility, which is managed by a non-profit, quasi-public entity called Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA). Located in South Meadows, near Hartford, it burns waste and converts it to energy.
In November 2018, operations at the plant screeched to a halt after one electricity-generating turbine was out for repair and the second one failed. During the shutdown, waste had to be transported out of state at a cost of around $276,000 per week. This continued until one of the two turbines was returned to service in January 2019, and even then, the facility operated at reduced capacity for months until the second turbine was back in service.
In December of last year, the Board of Finance (BOF) heard a presentation from a representative of WasteZero, a company that offers the Save Money and Reduce Trash (SMART) program. The program would introduce specially designated plastic bags to be used for waste that residents bring to the transfer station. The company offered data to show that the program greatly reduces trash and costs.
At the task force’s first meeting on Jan. 24, however, Fortuna explained that implementing the SMART program would necessitate an ordinance change, which might prove difficult.
Director of Public Works Larry Bonin addressed the task force, describing the workings of the transfer station: What is collected, where it goes, how the facility operates, and what its revenues and costs are.
“We’re looking at a bunch of things to figure out how to continue to effectively serve our residents at the transfer station—the residents who take their municipal solid waste and bulky waste there—and also how to possibly reduce costs of disposing of all of that,” said Fortuna.
One idea being considered is the purchased of a scale. Vehicles would be weighed before and after disposing of waste and be charged accordingly.
Another idea is a reorganization of the transfer station that would make it safer for the public as well as more efficient, he said.
BOF member Barry O’Nell, who was appointed chairman of the task force at its first meeting, said that its first task is to assess current transfer station operations.
“I’m excited about being on the team,” he said. “Right now, we’re just collecting data to see where we’re at. There are so many things that need to be sorted out...What’s coming in, where it goes.
“We won’t be making changes right away,” he added. “We have to study what we have.”
Once the task force has done its assessments, members said it will be very open to ideas from residents, including children, as to how waste can be reduced.
The task force’s next meeting will be held at Town Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m.