Mayor James J. Fiorentini > Press Release

May 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Mayor to Announce Pilot Single Stream Recycling Program

HAVERHILL-  At Tuesday night's city council meeting, Mayor James J. Fiorentini will announce the start of a a Pilot Program for curbside ‘Single Stream recycling’ in Haverhill.  This Pilot Program will test the feasibility of collecting its residential recyclables mixed together in one recycling container. This collection method is known in the recycling industry as “single-stream” collection. 

Single stream recycling will thus allow residents in the Pilot Program area to place a commingled collection of: glass, tin, steel, aluminum, mixed paper, cardboard, paper and plastics ( #1 through #7) into one collection bin.

No sorting will be necessary.  New state-of-the-art machines at recycling plants now allow for sophisticated sorting capability to process these materials and recycle them in to other useful products.  The city is currently using a single stream model at its recycling depot at 500 Primrose Street, with very positive feedback.

The Pilot Program will commence on July 7 and run for at least six months through the end of 2009, where further evaluations will be made.  The route announcement will be made at the city council meeting. 

This new initiative seeks to determine how city residents can be encouraged to recycle more, not only for environmental benefits, but to ultimately save tax dollars.  For every ton of trash residents recycle, the city saves $ 54.00 on residents’ trash disposal fees.

“While the recycling rate in Haverhill is approximately 11% and exceeds other communities, single stream recycling offers us the best opportunity to further increase our recycling efforts,” explained Mayor Fiorentini.  “I’m excited that we can offer this new service to over 3,200 households at no cost to the City budget.”

The refuse hauler, Capitol Waste, has agreed to collect the single stream recyclables at no additional cost to the City. 

“Our goal is to make recycling as easy and efficient as disposing of household trash, and that members of the Haverhill community will actively and freely choose to reduce their environmental impact by recycling,” noted the Mayor.  “This pilot program will allow us to gather critical data to determine if a city-wide recycling pilot is fiscally feasible,” added the Mayor.

Objectives of the Single Stream Curbside Recycling Pilot Program

• Achieve approximately 20-26% recycling rate in the Single Stream Pilot area;
• Reduce the amount of municipal solid waste from the Single Stream Pilot area which is disposed at the Covanta Waste to Energy facility from 10-15%;
• Ascertain what informational/educational materials are beneficial to facilitate expansion of the single stream curbside recycling program to the rest of the community;
• Understand and plan for any logistical concerns with implementing a city wide single stream curbside recycling program;
• Continue to research use of mobile recycling carts, etc.;
• Determine fiscal challenges to expanding to a city wide single stream recycling program;

For further information regarding this project, please contact Recycling Coordinator Steve Clifford at (978) 374- 2360