Latest News
NRRA offers a #1-7 baled plastics program for our members, which accounts for 25% of all plastics marketed for NRRA members in 2019. NRRA’s Vendor, Trigon Plastics in Newmanstown, PA, processes 90% of the #1-7 plastics on the East Coast making Trigon the largest buyer of #1-7 plastics in US!
What happens to the plastics once sorted at the plant?
• #1 PET (water bottle) is sold to manufacturers of carpet and clothing
• #2 HDPE Natural (milk jug) is pelletized and made into plastic lumber at Trigon and sold to Casual Living to be made into high end plastic furniture.
• #2 HDPE Mixed Color (laundry detergent bottle) is made into black drainage pipes, garbage container wheels, etc.
• #3-7 (which are mainly #5s and 7s) go to companies in Canada where they capture the #5 polypropylene and some of the 7s.
Here...Read more
NRRA is changing the benefits available to non-voting associate members to ensure that voting municipal members—for whose primary benefit NRRA was founded—receive the bulk of NRRA’s staff time and attention. Keep reading and see the full list of voting municipal member and non-voting associate member benefits for more information.
NRRA has two classes of members: voting members and non-voting associate members. Voting membership is available to municipalities, and non-voting associate membership is available to individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations.
Changes in Benefits:
NRRA’s bylaws give the NRRA Board of Trustees the authority to determine the privileges of each class and category of membership. On April 22, 2020, in accordance with NRRA’s bylaws, the NRRA Board of Trustees voted to change the privileges of associate members to the following:
Discounts available for: NRRA award winning annual conference Annual meeting, workshops, bus tours, and other...Read more
Did you know that NRRA's new website has a Resource Library full of resources for solid waste operators, most of which are available for free? The Resource Library contains recorded webinars, videos, and documents that can be filtered by specific resource topics. For example, solid waste operators in New Hampshire who want to see all NRRA webinars that qualify for continuing education credit can filter the Resource Library by the resource topic "NHDES Solid Waste Operator Continuing Education Credit" and choose from over 15 webinar recordings.
Here are examples of free webinars recorded in 2020 that qualify for credit:
Best Management Practices for Recycling Facilities During COVID-19 (April 15, 2020; 1 hr)
Is Recycling Still Worthwhile in New Hampshire? (January 30, 2020; 1 hr)
Let's Talk Trash - Solid Waste Challenges Facing Municipalities (January 15, 2020;...Read more
We are testing a new feature on our website, a Load Request Form . This form is quick and easy to complete either on your computer or from your smart phone. Just answer a few questions and submit the form and one of our NRRA logistics staff members will take care of your request. The form has already been tested by some of members who report that they find this a great alternative to calling or emailing. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Did you know that NRRA has an email listserv as a benefit for its voting municipal members? All voting municipal members of NRRA are invited to join. Participation will help members share and receive information with one another using email.
What is a listserv? It is a method of communicating with a group of people via email. Members send one email message to the host email address, and the software sends the email to all of the group’s subscribers.
Do you have experience using processed glass aggregate (crushed glass) in road and infrastructure projects in the Northeast?
If so, please complete our survey by Friday, July 10. NRRA is collecting examples of processed glass aggregate use and will share the results with communities interested in learning more about the value of using crushed glass locally when markets to recycle this material are limited.
Please share this survey widely with anyone who may have experience using processed glass aggregate. The deadline to respond to the survey is Friday, July 10.
(Due to COVID-19, we had to "pause" our survey (previously sent in mid-March). We are now re-launching the survey so that we can use the information gathered from it in an upcoming Webinar in July.)Read more
Seventh graders from Keene Middle School learned the rules of recycling in their city via classroom workshops on May 28 & 29. About 40 students from two KMS Extensions Program Focused Study Group classes participated in Keene Recycling workshops conducted by Education Manager Heather Herring of Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA). NRRA's School Recycling Club (The Club) provides recycling education and outreach to K-12 schools.
Since students are set up for learning from home, The Club was able to engage classes virtually, using Google Meet. The students composed questions in advance about recycling at the Keene Recycling Center. Ms. Herring reviewed the questions for discussion the following day. Students were also able to ask live questions during the discussion.
Questions included:
How much waste goes to the landfill? (37,000 tons to Rochester, NH in 2019) How much is recycled? (7,000 tons...Read more
For the most part, people bringing their trash to the transfer station, even in a small town such as Unity, take little notice of the people who work there, said Vanessa Keith, who has worked at the town’s Mica Mine Road facility since 1997 and now manages it.
Dropping off trash and recycling, yard waste and appliances tends to be a job done quickly, on the way to some other more enjoyable activity.
“I guess I feel like we’re sort of invisible,” said Keith, who since 2014 also has worked at the transfer station in Lempster, N.H.
Now, however, transfer station employees are considered essential workers, and their role is receiving new attention.
Transfer stations have had to manage the potential hazards of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
With the public in need of guidance,...Read more
Keene, NH –Eighth graders from Keene Middle School learned the basics of composting through virtual classroom workshops on April 29 & 30. About 30 students from two KMS STEM Focused Study Group classes participated in Back To The Earth workshops conducted by Education Manager Heather Herring of Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA). NRRA’s School Recycling Club (The Club) provides recycling education and outreach to K-12 schools.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has confined students to learning from home, The Club had to get creative and set up a way to engage students virtually, using Google Meet™. The students first viewed the Back To The Earth webinar on the NRRARecycles.org website and then composed questions about the composting presentation. The questions were submitted to Ms. Herring in advance and then discussed with the students the following day. Students were able to ask “live” questions using the Google Chat™ function.
One...Read more
Last Friday, I received a troubling email from my colleague. She had been contacted by the manager of a New Hampshire transfer station. You know, what some people still refer to as the town dump. The transfer station manager had resigned his position because the town directed him to open his recycling building back up to residents despite the manager’s objections.
The facility has a drive-thru with close quarters, making it difficult to enforce social distancing. On the other hand, the town offices remain closed to ensure adequate social distancing.
The transfer station staff are all over the age of 70. The manager quit out of frustration for the inequity of what the town was asking of the transfer station staff.
We all know by now that transfer station staff provide essential services, during a pandemic or not. But did you know that in New Hampshire, solid...Read more