Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Waste Recycling topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Simsbury committee advances waste plan work, schedules recycling facility tour and swap shop openings
Summary
The Sustainability Committee resumed drafting Simsbury’s waste plan, discussed aligning goals with regional solid-waste authorities, announced a May 14 tour of a Berlin sorting facility, and confirmed the swap shop will run Saturdays April–October.
Committee members on April 1 reported progress and next steps for Simsbury’s municipal waste and recycling work, including outreach, pilot ideas for food-scrap collection and public education to reduce landfill-bound trash.
Joe said the waste working group has resurrected an earlier draft of the town’s waste plan and is incorporating goals from the Capital Region Council of Governments and the Central Connecticut solid-waste planning effort. The group will schedule stakeholder interviews and dates to prepare a plan they hope to present to the board of selectmen before year-end.
Joe announced a May 14 tour of a new sorting facility in Berlin—described in the meeting as a state-of-the-art, roughly $50 million operation run by Murphy Road Recycling—to show how single-stream recycling is processed; committee members were invited to join what organizers called a front-row, morning tour. The swap shop at the transfer station will operate Saturdays from April through October, weather permitting, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., accepting reusable items free to Simsbury residents.
The committee also discussed product stewardship programs that allow residents to bring mattresses, electronics, paint and some batteries to the transfer station (typically with proof of residency); members noted evolving rules on small gas cylinders and that staff hope to expand acceptable drop-off items and reduce per-tire fees.
Members stressed education about what belongs in the blue recycling barrel and reported a recent facility tour had restored confidence in local single-stream sorting; Murphy Road Recycling told participants that only about 10–12% of material arriving was non-recyclable contamination, according to the meeting discussion.
Committee members said they were tracking a regional grant application by SESWA (the Connecticut Solid Waste Authority / Capital Region Council of Governments subcommittee) to expand food-scrap infrastructure across a 12-town region and will coordinate local support. USA Waste was identified as a stakeholder for potential collaboration on food-scrap collection pilots.
The committee encouraged residents to sign up for the Berlin tour, to use the swap shop, and to watch for follow-up emails with stakeholder-interview dates and additional waste-plan milestones.
