Latest News

11/8/23
The Voices of Experience Panel was a hit at this year's NRRA Annual Meeting. Five participants with extensive experience in the industry shared their perspectives on a variety of questions and their answers were just too good to keep to ourselves!

The panel consisted of: Mark Richardson, Board Treasurer and retired Transfer Station Coordinator for the Town of Hampton, NH; Joan Cudworth, Board President and Director of Public Works for Hollis, NH; John Fay, Board Member and Programs Manager for the Windham Solid Waste Management District in VT; Brian Patnoe, NRRA Member Services Manager; and Tara Albert, SWOT Training and Certification Coordinator for NHDES.

The panel reflected on several questions including: How has the solid waste field changed from when you started compared to now?

Respondents noted the move from using cash registers at the transfer station to now adopting credit card machines and the advent of recycling ("back...Read more

11/8/23

NRRA staff, Board of Trustees, and voting municipal members gathered on Wednesday, November 1st at the Puritan Backroom conference center to celebrate this year's NRRA award winners, hear from a fantastic "Voices of Experience" panel, and vote on the new Board of Trustees slate.

NRRA Executive Director, Reagan Bissonnette, opened the meeting reflecting on NRRA's 42-year history of being a member-centered nonprofit operating in what has generally been a for-profit space of the recyclable market. In fact, when NRRA was founded in 1981, we were the sole organization helping New Hampshire municipalities market their recyclables!

Originally founded for cooperative marketing, technical assistance, and education, NRRA is still going strong today, thanks to our continued partnership with members, vendors, and our dedicated Board and staff. For example, through cooperative marketing in 2022, NRRA managed over 81.5 million pounds of recyclables - the equivalent of pulling over 20,000 passenger cars...Read more

11/7/23

EPSOM, NH: The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), is pleased to announce the 2023 Recycling Award winners: Bonnie Bethune, Sami Izzo Recycler of the Year; Frank Baker, Rookie of the Year; APC Paper, Vendor of the Year; Bob Fanny, Continuing Education Award; Stacey Morrison, NRRA Hall of Fame; and fifteen Honorary Lifetime Membership recipients. Awardees were celebrated at the November 1 st Annual Meeting.

NRRA Senior Member Services Representative, Bonnie Bethune, received the highest award , named in remembrance of Sami Izzo, a high energy, multi-talented individual known for her contributions in the world of waste reduction and recycling.

This lifetime achievement honors those who best combine the qualities of commitment, leadership, and enthusiasm in developing and sustaining an environmentally and financially sound solid waste management program. In her award remarks, NRRA Executive Director, Reagan Bissonnette, shared staff reflections of the award winner:...Read more

10/25/23

On October 18, NRRA staff and municipal member certified solid waste facility operators headed out on the Annual Fall Bus Tour. The plan for the day included a driving tour of the Waste Management Turnkey Landfill in Rochester, NH, followed by a walking tour of Universal Recycling Technologies' to see their cathode-ray tube (CRT) electronics recycling process, and finally a tour of the Lee, NH Transfer Station.

In a follow up survey, it's clear the sold-out bus tour was a success! Participants enjoyed getting an insider's look into three aspects of solid waste management - landfilling, universal waste recycling, and source separated recycling. Said one operator:

"It was helpful being able to see the facilities in action and having essentially a tour guide to walk you through the ins and outs of everything. It's always so informative and appreciate the time that everyone takes...Read more

10/24/23
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EPSOM, NH: The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), the largest and oldest cooperative-model recycling nonprofit in the United States, enables communities to manage their own recycling programs, in part, through its recycling education and technical assistance work. This fall, NRRA successfully wrapped up its  Recycling Tools of the Trade  project, made possible by a grant from the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

New Hampshire law states that each town must “provide a facility or assure access to another approved solid waste facility for its residents,” regardless of how big – or small – a town may be. NRRA partners with 85% of all towns and cities in NH, working primarily with small, rural municipalities. Through the  Recycling Tools of the Trade  project, NRRA launched several new recycling and solid waste diversion tools and resources with small towns in mind.

...Read more

10/16/23

by Hadley Barndollar, New Hampshire Bulletin

Coos County’s Mount Carberry Landfill took in more than 162 million pounds of construction and demolition debris in 2021. That, according to the Northeast Resource Recovery Association, means the disposal of wood, metal, sheet rock, shingles, asphalt, brick, and concrete was more than twice the amount of food waste landfilled there that same year.

Construction and demolition debris is often an overlooked contributor to landfill waste, said Reagan Bissonnette, executive director at the NRRA, and in the North Country, it’s an environmental justice issue.

This year, using a federal Healthy Communities Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NRRA worked with local officials, transfer station operators, and solid waste management stakeholders in 21 towns through a series of roundtables, site visits, pilot programs, and audits. The award of a second grant will expand construction and demolition...Read more

10/5/23

Welcome to the 42nd NRRA Annual Meeting!

All NRRA Members are cordially invited to join the trustees and staff of NRRA for the Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Wednesday, November 1st from 9am - 1pm at the Puritan Backroom Restaurant. (There will be an NRRA Board and Staff meeting immediately following from 1-2pm.)

There will be plenty of time for networking this year over morning refreshments and lunch. We will then have the opportunity to hear from the Voices of Experience panel as they reflect on the field of recycling and solid waste management - where it's been, where it's going, and most importantly, answering YOUR questions. We are also excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our members and vendors over the past year with our awards presentation. Finally, members will vote on renewing members for NRRA's Board of Trustees.

The NRRA is your organization,...Read more

10/4/23
The Northeast Resource Recovery Association is pleased to announce that we have been selected for the EPA Region 1 New England Healthy Communities grant for 2023-2024. The North Country C&D Diversion 2.0 project will build on the success of NRRA’s recent EPA grant Increasing C&D Diversion in Coös County, NH , while expanding technical assistance to ten additional communities north of the notches in New Hampshire.

The goal of the project is to enable communities to increase C&D and bulky waste diversion through reuse and recycling instead of landfilling. We anticipate short-term outcomes to include: (1) an increase by weight of C&D being diverted; (2) a reduction in pounds of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; (3) a reduction of C&D management costs; and (4) improved access to information and tools to increase C&D diversion.

Over the year-long course of the project, NRRA will: Convene three...Read more
9/26/23

The 2023 legislative session is complete. Here is a list of the House and Senate bills related to solid waste management and recycling in New Hampshire, as well as the outcome of the bills by the end of the session.

For updates on the current legislative session, please refer to our Policy and Legislation Page.

2023 Legislation 2023 House and Senate Bills SB159 : Relative to permits for the siting of new landfills. Sponsors: (Prime) Senator Donovan Fenton Passed House and Senate, Signed by Governor on 6/20/2023 SB211 : Relative to background investigations of solid waste and hazardous waste facility permit applicants. Sponsors: (Prime) Senator Howard Pearl Passed House and Senate, Signed by Governor on 6/20/2023 HB 253 : Establishing a committee to study extended producer responsibility. Sponsors: (Prime)Representative Lucius Parshall Passed both...Read more
9/19/23
Over the past year, NRRA has been working on an EPA Healthy Communities grant focused on increasing construction and demolition (C&D) diversion in Coös County, NH. During that time, we have held 3 C&D Summit Roundtables in Lancaster, NH; provided technical assistance to 3 case study communities ; helped to set up a successful C&D diversion pilot program in Lancaster, NH; and have visited 14 Coös County facilities with an eye to C&D management.

By visiting individual transfer stations, NRRA is able to pull together different C&D challenges and opportunities that are unique to Coös County.

There are no local C&D recycling facilities in Coös County. The closest C&D recycling facilities are in southern New Hampshire and western Vermont, which is prohibitively far from Coös County. Because of this, C&D debris is primarily landfilled, with some facilities separating wood to be chipped and used as...Read more

Pages