Beverly waste committee urges pay-as-you-throw, stronger recycling access and more food-scrap drop sites

Amy Henderson, chair of the Beverly Waste Reduction Committee, told the Beverly City Council on May 5 that rising tipping fees, landfill closures and strong resident participation mean the city should adopt new policies to reduce municipal waste and costs.

Henderson said the volunteer committee has organized more than 60 zero-waste events and logged at least 500 volunteer hours; it helped launch two free food-scrap drop sites and estimates nearly 1,800 Beverly households use Black Earth Compost collection. “We don’t see trash, we see resources,” Henderson said.

Why it matters: The committee outlined a local fiscal risk if disposal costs continue to climb. Henderson said tipping rates in Beverly rose from $93 per ton in 2021 to about $106 per ton currently, and she said the city has been told the rate will rise to roughly $112 per ton in July. She cited Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection projections that most state landfills could close by…