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Atli - 8 1482 Lexington Recycling Committee �A Report on the current situation, April, 1982
1. We have joined a regional recycling group with members from most of
the towns within 10-15 miles of us. We have compared notes on contractors
(Our's are no worse than any of the others.) and on the condition of the
recycling industry. Because of the recession, prices paid for recyclables
are much less than they were a year ago: paper has gone from X15/ton to
$5 6r $2 /ton, and the contractors are getting very slow picking it up
at all. Glass also has gone down, and we have had many problems with Mr.
Shaffer. Our scrap metal contractor has been very reliable; he monitors the
area himself, and comes when the pile gets large. Payment is always within
a week, at $12/ton just now.
2. We have considered changing glass contractors because of the difficulties
with Mr. Shaffer, which are
1. He does not pick up the glass when the bin is full. We have had glass
overflowing all over the place for weeks.
2. He has given us a bin with a permanent division into green and clear sides.
The division does not correspond to the rate at whcih we produce the
two colors, so one side fills up before the other. He will not pick
up the glass until both sidesa re full.
3. He lies to us . we can't count on anything he says.
Murray Fox, of Oxford is interested in our business, but 2 although he sounds
wonderful over the telephone, we hear t hat he is slow in paying and in pickup.
Also, he promised tosend a contract two weeks ago, and hasn't produced one yet.
He does have bins with adjustable partitions, and to will pick up brown glass.
3. Bedford has been having recycling problems. Their contractor did not renew
his Boid for another year, and they asked us if we would accept _ _
part of their glass and newspaper for the next few months while they reorganozed.
We had to turn them down, because wecan't count on our own recyclables being
picked up, and we don't have the volunteer manpower , to handle
any additional mess when the bins overflow. We said that individuals could
bring their recyclables if they wanted (We couldn't very well s top them, anyway.)
4. We have had a problem with people who dump rubbish at the recycling venter,
either out of ignorance or just because it's convenient for them. We get piles
of construction debris, gravel, tires, mattresses and brush. It is hard for
the volunteers, who have to load everything in their cars, carry it home,
transfer it to garage or cellar, and package it for trash pickup the next week.
Warren Ampey has been w onderful about coming to our aid when the job seems
impossible.
5. We have also had a problem with vandalism. Because there is no longer anyone
atm from the DPW stationed at the dump, who can open the recycling area in the
morning and close it in the early afternoon, we have had to leave it open all
of the time. There are some school children in the area (we think they come
over the railroad tracks from Reed St.) who love to break glass. We haven't
found a solution to this problem, and it may get much worse when the weather
gets warmer. We are planning to lank the area from Friday afternoon until the
Hancocvk Youth Group opens it up at 2PM on Sunday, but this won't solve our
problem.completely.
"*ice 6. Our volunteers have been enthusiastic and willing to help whenever needed.
After the most recent glass bin-overflowing we moved about 3 tons of glass
from the ground to the emptied bin.
Kate Pricker, Chairman