No recycling? No trash pickup

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October 21, 2011

No recycling? No trash pickup

By Ethan Forman Staff writer The Salem News Fri Oct 21, 2011, 05:00 AM EDT

DANVERS — Starting Jan. 1, residents who don't recycle won't get their trash picked up.

Selectmen have approved tough new rules to encourage recycling and reduce the amount of trash, all aimed at keeping a lid on trash collection costs.

Residents will be required to put out their recycling bins each week along with the trash and will be restricted to no more than three barrels or bags of trash, Selectmen Chairman Dan Bennett said.

If a household fails to put out recycling, trash will not be picked up.

The new rules will also do away with the twice-a-month system of recycling, in which residents are asked to put out green or blue bins according to whether it is a "green" or "blue" recycling week. Recycling will be picked up each week, no matter what color the bins are, Bennett said.

Reducing the amount of trash will save the town money, because it pays by the ton for the rubbish collected. So, the board reduced the number of bags or barrels single-family homes can place at the curb from five to three.

Multifamily dwellings of up to four apartments or condominiums can still put out five bags of trash.

Bennett said the trash collector will probably relax the rules during the holidays when residents typically put out more trash.

The new trash rules were not drawn arbitrarily, he said.

A recycling survey conducted this spring showed 95 percent of residents put out three barrels or fewer, while seven out of 10 residents put out recycling for collection, according to a memo from the Department of Public Works.

Selectmen have also approved slight changes to the operation of the East Coast Road Transfer Station. Residents can obtain a $15 yard waste sticker to make drop-offs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This change represents an addition of two days.

A $10 minimum to drop off household trash at the transfer station has been trashed, Bennett said, and residents will pay 4 cents per pound to drop off their refuse.

Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by email at eforman@salemnews.com or on Twitter @DanverSalemNews.

GETTING TOUGH ON TRASH

Starting Jan. 1, Danvers' curbside trash collection will change:

Only three trash barrels per household will be picked up.

Recycling will be mandatory.

Recycling will be picked up once a week, instead of every two weeks.

Households that do not recycle will not have trash picked up.