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NRRA members were pleased to meet in person on March 9th at the Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) and gather around a table to discuss recycling markets and composting. After several great discussions during the Member Operations Marketing (MOM) meeting, we joined Executive Director Bob Spencer for a tour of the facility in Brattleboro, VT.
In 2011, WSWMD began to collect organics and in 2012 they started a curbside collection program and sent the material to Martin's Farm in Greenfield, MA. Eventually, they opened a site in Windham to collect organics locally. The greatest incentive to increase recycling and composting was in 2015 when Pay As You Throw (PAYT) became mandatory in Vermont. With education and an economic incentive, more reluctant recycler residents began to bring in organic material and recyclables to divert from the weight of the municipal waste. In 2017, WSWMD voted to change from a...Read more
At NRRA’s Member Operations Marketing (MOM) meeting on February 9, 2022, Bonnie Bethune, NRRA Senior Member Services Representative, shared four graphs to demonstrate trends in market pricing for fibers, scrap metal, aluminum cans, and plastics from 2018 to present. A picture is worth a thousand words, and these pricing charts show that despite some recent dips in market pricing, overall recycling commodity markets are either similar to or higher than the same time in 2018.
Some of the key highlights from these graphs include the following.
Fibers : Though somewhat lower than similar 2018 pricing, cardboard and mixed paper show recent improved pricing with a current steady pricing trend. Scrap Metal : Pricing is currently slightly above 2018 pricing with signs of strengthening markets. Aluminum Cans : Pricing is currently slightly above 2018 pricing, also with signs of strengthening markets. Plastics : After historically high summer 2021 pricing,...Read more
We have received a lot of interest and excitement about our new Recycle Right Campaign that is launching on April 18, 2022! (There is still plenty of time to sign up.) Because this is a new program, we thought it would be helpful to explain what exactly you'll see over the course of the 4-month campaign.
You can access the campaign on our Facebook page and through our Instagram page.
The campaign will include: Weekly social media posts Videos A bi-weekly newsletter (10 total over 4 months) A dedicated page on the NRRA website that will host all posts and videos for future use Instructions on how a town can run its own, locally-focused Recycle Right Campaign Social Media Posts:Wondering what type of social media posts we'll be sharing? Here are a few common...Read more
Municipal recycling facilities have recently started to receive outdated solar panels and solar lights and have reached out to NRRA to help recycle these items.
In collaboration with one of our electronics vendors, NRRA is pleased to announce the newest addition to our electronics recycling program. If you receive solar panels or solar lights from residents, please reach out to NRRA for handling procedures and pricing.
NOTE : If you are contacted by a solar panel company, please have them reach out to NRRA as we may refer that company directly to our vendor.
Please contact NRRA Member Services at 603-736-4401 for further information.
As one of our cooperative purchasing programs, NRRA is seeking orders for black plastic gaylords. Our members use these lightweight and durable gaylords for storage of aluminum cans and plastics prior to baling.
We need to order a minimum of 40 gaylords, as these are custom-made by NRRA’s vendor in Laconia, NH.
Members can order any number of gaylords, with or without lids. Once made, these gaylords need to be picked up by the member at NRRA’s vendor in Laconia, NH. NH the Beautiful offers grants for NH Members for up to 20% of the purchase price.
Please contact NRRA Member Services at 603-736-4401 for more details and pricing.
The New Hampshire Legislature has begun its 2022 session, and NRRA has prepared a list of numerous bills related to solid waste and recycling. NRRA will periodically provide updates regarding these bills and encourages members to testify on bills relevant to their work. NRRA may testify regarding some bills to educate lawmakers, but NRRA does not take a position on proposed legislation. This article was last updated Feb. 9, 2022.
Need a refresher about how the legislative process works in New Hampshire? Here's an overview of how a bill becomes a law . In addition, the NH Department of Environmental Services prepares a bill tracking matrix that is updated weekly.
For questions or comments regarding this legislative update, contact Reagan Bissonnette , NRRA Executive Director.
Public HearingsIn order to see scheduled public hearing dates for bills relevant to...Read more
EPSOM, NH (January 24, 2022) - The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), a recycling nonprofit that enables communities to manage their own recycling programs, has begun its Recycling with Results grant-funded project. Outreach has begun in preparation for the upcoming Recycle Right social media campaign and Solid Waste Advisory Team (SWAT) Program.
In August 2021, NRRA was awarded a grant by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service to launch a Recycling with Results project. This grant is aimed at helping small, rural communities in New Hampshire recycle more and recycle better in order to reduce their solid waste stream. With support from this grant, NRRA has created a SWAT Program focused on providing educational and technical assistance for town employees and officials, and a Recycle Right campaign focused on providing recycling information to residents. Both initiatives will launch in the spring of 2022.
SWAT...Read more
NRRA started out this year with a special speaker from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grant Area Director, Jon-Michael Muise, to talk about funding for recycling facilities at our virtual MOM meeting. The Community Facility Loan and Grant Program provides loan and grant opportunities for municipal equipment, containers or building funds in NH and VT. The federal agency provides funding to rural communities with under 20,000 residents who meet a certain median household income for each state. For more information and eligibility for this great opportunity to improve your recycling program, please see NRRA's Resource page for a recording of Jon-Michael's presentation and slides. Our article from November covers the details of the program and who is eligible for funding.
In addition to the presentation, we reviewed the latest in cooperative marketing and purchasing, including the end of the year slowdown of moving recyclables. We...Read more
Residents in the town of Lee, NH should be proud. In the month of November 2021, their small, individual acts of recycling for the past several months led to nearly $39,000 in revenue for their town. This is a great example of a town Recycling with Results! But how did they make it happen?
First, individual community members rinsed out, collected, and then separated their plastic bottles and jugs, aluminum cans, scrap metal, cardboard, and paper at the transfer station. By making sure they were only recycling items that could be processed, they helped make sure their recyclables remained clean and uncontaminated. This means that items that cannot generally be processed at your local transfer station - such as single use plastic bags - were tossed in the garbage and not the recycling bin. It also means that items that can be processed were recycled, instead of being thrown...Read more
Over the past year, NRRA members and communities have reported that residents continue to hear that recycling is dead, recycling isn't working anymore, and that communities are stopping recycling. In reality, recycling has been doing very well. So much so that this past summer, NRRA Executive Director Reagan Bissonnette penned an op-ed, " Recycling is Thriving, In Part Due to the Pandemic " which was featured locally in the Concord Monitor and NH Bulletin.
Recently, however, Reagan was able to talk with New Hampshire Public Radio reporter, Mara Hoplamazian, to share the real story on how times have changed - for the better - when it comes to recycling in New Hampshire:
The transfer station in Derry is full of neatly organized piles of everything residents don’t want. Old couches, discarded Halloween decorations, and tidy mounds of plastic, cardboard, glass, and aluminum....Read more