Latest News
We are happy to report that this year's Annual Meeting on Wednesday, November 4th was bursting with members participating online! Over 55 members and staff tuned in to hear all things NRRA. Executive Director Reagan Bissonnette welcomed the group to our virtual gathering, thanking members for continuing the essential service of managing trash and recycling for their communities in the midst of the pandemic. Reagan also announced that all the webinars from NRRA's Summer Webinar Series are now available for free for NRRA members.
Eleven-year President Duncan Watson was not able to lead us all in virtual yoga as is his traditional Annual Meeting ice breaker, but he painted a story about our current path and challenged members to dramatically increase diversion rates. Mark Richardson, NRRA Board Treasurer, gave a financial report that showed NRRA is fortunate to have a sound financial base, which...Read more
NRRA has become aware of two recent fires related to the improper recycling of lawnmowers by residents. Lawnmowers can be safely recycled with scrap metal, but only if they are fully emptied of gas beforehand.
In one case, a resident recycled a lawnmower that still had gas in it. When the transfer station operator went to push down the metal with the loader to make more space in the storage container, a spark ignited the fuel and caused the fire.
In another community, a lawnmower with gas in it was similarly put with the scrap metal. In that case, the fuel fumes had time to go through the entire metal container and caused an explosion when the solid waste operator pushed the metal down with equipment.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in either case. But the containers had to be repaired and repainted before they could...Read more
Norm Bowles, the former operator of the Canterbury NH Recycling Center, passed away on October 17, 2020 at 90 years of age surrounded by family and friends.
He often referred to himself as a “young boy” and the “bad boy of Canterbury”.
Norm’s son David knew how much he meant to NRRA Staff and called to let us know when his Dad was in declining health the end of September.
Norm dedicated his life to his family, farming, hard work and recycling. One of the highlights of his time at the recycling facility was the “Dance at da Dump," which involved a hot tub and celebrations of recycling!
NH Department of Environmental Services even gave him a lifetime solid waste operator’s license. Norm and his family are in our thoughts.
For obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/concordmonitor/obituary.aspx?n=norman-r-bowles&pid=196967142 Read more
NRRA works hard for you in many ways you might not be aware of! An important part of our job is to look out for you, our members. We are constantly checking to make sure transactions and pricing are correct. In addition, we always keep our members’ best interests in the forefront. One example of this is fuel surcharges.
You may ask, what is a fuel surcharge? A fuel surcharge is an extra fee that many companies that haul commodities charge to cover the fluctuating cost of fuel. It is usually calculated as a percentage of the base haul rate and is then added to the freight bill to cover the cost of operations.
...Read more
Brian Bartram, NRRA board member from Salisbury, CT, was excited to share a new panoramic video with us of their new Transfer Station for Salisbury and Sharon. It was 25 years from an idea to the ribbon cutting ceremony this past week. It is one of the oldest transfer stations in Connecticut and we are happy they are ready to open.
Salisbury, CT, population 3,741, has been an NRRA member for over twenty years and uses NRRA to move their tires, propane, and batteries most recently. Salisbury, CT Transfer Station
Congrats to Salisbury for making it happen and best to them with their new facility!
Here is a one minute video the engineering firm had filmed in August.
Blue skies and a brand new recycling facility attracted NRRA members from near and far to attend the October 14th outdoor meeting. We were all eager to hear about what sparked Gilford to build this $1.4 million recycling center complete with horizontal baler and floor scale and what advice they have for others now that it is open.
It started in 2015 with one selectman, and the first warrant article was proposed in 2016. The second warrant article provided additional funds in 2017. At first, residents had concerns about the facility, but now they are thrilled to bring both their MSW and recyclables to Gilford, instead of going to Laconia. The town switched back from single stream recycling to source separated, which took time to educate residents. But when Public Works proved that they lowered operating costs from $77,000 to $50,000 residents were supportive. Gilford already owned the land...Read more
New Hampshire the Beautiful board members John Dumais, Larry Melanson, and Scott Schaier joined Gilford's Public Works Director, Meghan Theriault, and staff, Bruce Hewitt, Bob Martin, and Cordell Summers, as well as NRRA's Executive Director, Reagan Bissonnette, in presenting a check from NH the Beautiful's equipment grant program for $5,000 to Gilford which was used to assist the town with the purchase of a horizontal baler. This equipment has been an essential part of Gilford's new recycling building- switching from single stream back to source separated recycling. Congratulations, Gilford, and thank you for helping to help keep New Hampshire Beautiful!Read more
Have you joined our email listserv yet? The listserv is a way for members to send an email to one email address and reach all of the NRRA members in the listserv group. Currently over 80 members have signed up. All voting municipal members of NRRA are invited to join.
Here are some examples of popular recent discussion topics on the NRRA listserv:
Sharing wage information and hours for transfer station staff Charges for demo/bulk material and how members handle private contractors Status of swap shops re-opening Systems for collecting fees, such as cash, check, credit cards, and online invoicing No picking policies Brush grinding and whether members own or rent a grinder or hire someoneJoin the listserv today to join these conversations and share information with fellow NRRA members! Members have the option to receive emails individually or have them batched and delivered less frequently....Read more
NRRA wants to recognize schools and their dedicated staff and students for continuing their recycling efforts despite the challenges presented by the pandemic. We are happy to announce that we will be accepting nominations for our School Recycling Awards for the 2019-2020 school year. Please use the Nomination Form to complete and submit your nominees for school, student, teacher or staff recycling awards. The deadline is November 20, 2020 . Selections will be made and the awards will be presented virtually during the holidays.
In addition, New Hampshire the Beautiful will be accepting essays for consideration to receive their School Recycling Innovation Award. This generous award comes with a $500 check to be used for improving your school's recycling program. To learn more about this award, see the Press Release from 2018. The deadline for submitting essays is also November 20, 2020 , with the...Read more
NRRA Staff have been working throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic to keep our NRRA Members' recyclables and solid waste moving, some working completely remote and others alternating between remote and on site at the NRRA office in Epsom, NH.
Need a Release Number, Container Swap, Pick-Up Status, General Inquiry?The first point of contact for all inquires is NRRA's Administrative Department, which includes Stacey Morrison, Lindsay Dow & Sam Foresta.
Send in your request via email: info@nrrarecycles.org
This email inbox is monitored regularly by the Administrative Team from 8AM-4PM, Monday through Friday. All requests can be sent here and will make their way to the appropriate staff member to take care of.
LOAD REQUEST FORM...Read more