Latest News

The August meeting of the Solid Waste Working Group (SWWG) was a full one touching on NHDES grants, composting food waste, the challenges to consistent and safe disposal of lithium-ion batteries, the Solid Waste Management Plan, and extended producer responsibility. The NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) will be issuing grants for food waste and other waste reduction in the coming year. NHDES has a goal to solicit grant applications after establishing the rules for the program in the summer of 2024. These grants will be available to municipalities, businesses, and nonprofits for education and infrastructure. With the...

The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) is pleased to announce the release of our 2022 Annual Report. When executive director, Reagan Bissonnette, joined this organization in June 2019, little did she know that it would be three years before we would hold our conference in person once again, so it's no surprise that gathering together in person in 2022 had the feeling of a reunion among friends. The conference theme, “What’s Next: Rethinking Resource Recovery” emphasized the need for us to rethink the future of solid waste and waste reduction and reset following the pandemic and China’s National Sword policy. While 2022...

We are excited to announce that Josh Whipple, the Solid Waste Manager for the Town of Swanzey Recycling Center and NRRA Board Member - has joined the New Hampshire Solid Waste Working Group (SWWG). Josh has been a solid waste operator since 2011 in the town of Swanzey, a rural NH community with a strong, resident-driven source separated recycling program. The Solid Waste Working Group's responsibilities include reviewing and making changes to the state's solid waste reduction, recycling, and management policies, programs, goals, and initiatives. Josh will be acting as the SWWG representative for rural communities that source...

If you're an NRRA Member (or a supporter of our work) you know our main focus is partnering to make recycling strong through economic and environmentally sound solutions. For example, last year we assisted our 441 members in recycling and managing over 81.5 million pounds of material and returned nearly $3 million net revenue to our members from the sale of their recyclables. Such efforts resulted in 207 million pounds of avoided carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to removing 20,392 passenger cars from the road for an entire year. We also pride ourselves in walking the walk, taking steps within our organization to...

June’s Solid Waste Working Group meeting included an update on new food waste-related grants for municipalities, private entities, and businesses, an update about the NHDES Solid Waste Management Bureau’s work, and a presentation by NHDES about managing sludge and biosolids. Representative Karen Ebel provided an update regarding legislation related to solid waste management. The most important update for NRRA members is that HB 462—which made an appropriation to the solid waste management fund targeting food waste reduction and diversion—was incorporated into the budget signed by the Governor. As a result, NHDES will be hiring a new...

This month, Member Services Manager, Brian Patnoe, offers operators some insight into the #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic slowdown. If you've tried moving plastics in the past month, you might have noticed a long delay in getting prices or even moving plastic in general. While the plastics industry is very complex, I wanted to share some of the basic reasons why #1 PET plastic in particular has become particularly challenging to move. Economic Basics First, we have to look at the supply and demand of recycled PET. Right now, there is an overabundance of global surplus combined with a low demand. Though there are a few...

The full NRRA staff recently completed a day-long staff retreat, which began with a visit to the Weare, NH transfer station. The eleven staff members were greeted by Transfer Station Operator, Frank Baker, and Interim Public Works Director, Jason Fiske for a tour of the facility. Both Frank and Jason are relatively new to their respective positions, but it's clear they are both working hard to support and improve the transfer station and public works department. Frank made the transition to the transfer station after honing his organizational and people skills in the restaurant industry for several decades. Weare, NH has...

For the past ten months, NRRA Executive Director, Reagan Bissonnette, represented the recycling nonprofit while participating in the latest Leadership New Hampshire cohort. The mission of Leadership NH is, "building a community of informed and engaged leaders." Participants from across all sectors of NH came together in an opening retreat, several themed days throughout the year, a closing retreat, and graduation. One of Reagan's primary goals of participating was to share NRRA's mission, recycling education, and waste reduction resources with her fellow participants to increase the visibility and understanding of the importance of...

In August 2022, NRRA was awarded a grant by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service to launch a Recycling Tools of the Trade project. This project is aimed at helping to address the unique challenges small, rural communities in New Hampshire face when it comes to solid waste management. With support from this USDA grant, NRRA is developing several new resources for our smallest communities. One such resource, which debuted at the 2023 Annual Recycling Conference & Expo, is a Recycling 101 presentation. Feedback on the presentation was very positive, with residents and operators alike expressing...

Welcome to part 2 of our Maximizing Your NRRA Benefits series. In this section, we will cover education and technical assistance benefits. In case you missed it, part 1 covers the benefits of logistics and finance. (This was originally presented at the 2023 Annual Recycling Conference .) In this section we will be covering education - both for operators and residents - and technical assistance for all Municipal Members. EDUCATION If you are a principal operator in New Hampshire, per NHDES you must earn a minimum of 2.5 continuing education credits each year. NRRA hosts a variety of video presentations and in-person events that count...