Bristol, NH Considers Program Modeled After Foam Recycling in Gilford

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Chuck Cullen, supervisor of the Bristol Transfer Station, along with members of the selectboard, have been consulting the town of Gilford as their own town looks into ways of reducing the amount of solid waste being hauled to landfills. In particular, they are interested in Gilford’s recycling effort aimed at removing polystyrene from the waste stream. “Styrofoam is not going away,” Cullen said. “We have a lot of styrofoam that comes in and is filling up our dumpsters.”

By reducing the number of trips necessary to empty the containers, the town would save on hauling fees, and recycling the foam could bring money in, he told the selectboard last month. Cullen said Environmental Planner Matt Rose, of the Lakes Region Planning Commission, would like to add recycling to efforts such as Household Hazardous Waste Day. Rose put Cullen in touch with Gilford’s director of public works, Meghan Theriault. With Rose’s help, Gilford got a full grant to purchase a machine that allows the town to package up foam for a Canadian company able to reuse it.

“It takes the styrofoam, chews it up, spits it out, and it comes out heated, and comes out to be a tube, and they put it on a pallet, and then they store the pallet. Once they get the pallet stored, 30 of them, there’s a place in Canada that will take this product,” Cullen said. The town might not get much money from the foam recycling, but it does get rid of it and make more room for municipal solid waste, Cullen said, adding Rose is willing to write Bristol’s grant application.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com