What services does your town provide?
By Michelle Murdock, Contributing Writer
Region – On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Massachusetts voters will have the opportunity to vote on Question 2 – Expanding the Beverage Container Deposit Law. Also known as the Bottle Bill, if passed this law would require deposits on containers for all non-alcoholic non-carbonated drinks in liquid form intended for human consumption, except beverages primarily derived from dairy products, infant formula, and FDA approved medicines.
And as voters and supporters of both sides of the question await the outcome, it is interesting to note what services for trash and recycling are already in place for each of the six towns covered by the Community Advocate. Three of six towns provide curbside service while the remaining three do not.
The town of Westborough does not provide public curbside trash and recycling pickup. Instead, there is a trash and recycling disposal drop-off facility at E.L. Harvey and Sons located at 68 Hopkinton Road. Residents choosing to use the facility are required to purchase dump stickers available through the Westborough Board of Health or online. Sticker cost per year is $140 for the first sticker and an additional $70 for a second sticker, if desired. Stickers for seniors aged 65 or older are half price. Private curbside collection service is available to residents who do not wish to purchase a dump sticker for the drop-off facility.
The second town without curbside pickup is the town of Southborough. Residents can dispose of all their solid waste by bringing it to the Transfer Station and/or use a private hauler, at their own expense, for curbside pickup. The Transfer Station accepts bulky items but there are some exceptions as TVs and CRT monitors. The sticker fee is payable on a yearly basis by Sept. 15. Presently the fee is $250 per household. The Transfer Station and Recycling Center are located at the Department of Public Works location, 147 Cordaville Road. Residents who choose to use a private hauler for trash disposal are not required to purchase transfer station stickers. For more information visit www.southboroughtown.com/dpw/transferstation.htm or call the Department of Public Works at 508-485-1210.
Third on the list with a transfer station is the town of Hudson. Town of Hudson annual Transfer Station decals are required by all residents. Decals are available July 1 and are good through June 30. Decals are $10 and proof of residency is required. Senior Citizens over 65 and veterans decals are free of charge. Decals may be purchased at the Town Hall or the Transfer Station, but seniors and veterans are required to obtain their decals at the Hudson Town Hall.
The city of Marlborough provides its residents with solid waste collection, through the curb-side collection program and resident drop-off facility, and disposal at the WeCare Environmental LLC co-composting facility. Recycling services are also provided through curb-side collection and at the resident drop-off facility. Recycling disposal is free (incorporated into the collection contract) and, according to the town’s website, it is estimated that every 5 percent increase in the recycling rate reduces Marlborough’s solid waste disposal costs by $75,000 per year. Marlborough’s solid waste and recyclables programs is automated and residents are supplied with the appropriate wheeled carts which are provided free of charge. Containers for the program are funded in part by a grant from the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection and through existing local revenues. Residents receive a 64-gallon cart for solid waste and a 96-gallon cart for recyclables. The recyclables program is single-stream which means all recyclables go into one container. The wheeled carts belong to the city of Marlborough and remain with the house if a resident moves.
The town of Northborough has a curbside trash and recycling program where trash is collected weekly and recycling is collected every other week.
“Recycling is not required to be sorted as we do allow single stream,” said Town Engineer Fred Litchfield.
Northborough, however, has a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) bag fee for the curbside solid waste program. Per the town website, residents must participate in the Pay-As-You-Throw program in order to receive recycling collection. Residents not wishing to participate in the Pay-As-You-Throw program may opt to use a private hauler.
The town of Shrewsbury is another town with a Pay-As-You-Throw program. Rubbish is collected every week and recycling every other week. Rubbish and recycling must be placed by the curb by 7 a.m. on the day of collection to ensure service. Only rubbish in town approved trash Pay As You Throw (PAYT) bags and bulky items with a $10 Bulky Waste Stickers attached will be picked up for disposal. Residents may use trash barrels up to 32 gallons but all rubbish must first be put in a PAYT bag. Shrewsbury does not have a drop off recycling center.
According to the Massachusetts Information for Voters brochure published by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, a YES vote on question 2 “would expand the state’s beverage container deposit law to require deposits on containers for all non-alcoholic, non-carbonated drinks with certain exceptions, increase the associated handling fees, and make other changes to the law.”
A NO vote on question “would make no change in the laws regarding beverage container deposits”.
According to those in favor of question 2, a YES vote “equals more recycling, less trash and litter, and big savings for town’s waste management costs.” For those opposed, “Question 2 will cost nearly $60 million a year, more than three times the price of curbside program, waste taxpayer dollars on expanding an uneconomical, 30-year old system, and raise your nickel deposit and additional fees every five years – without your vote.”