IPSWICH RECYCLING

ADVISORY
COMMITTEE (IRAC)
Presentation to the Ipswich Board
of Selectmen
December 2015

Mission Statement
Increase the awareness of benefits of recycling and save municipal
funds spent on trash disposal

YEAR IN REVIEW

Events We Attended
Farmers Market
Olde Ipswich Days
Chowderfest

Recycling Events
Electronics (for fee) and
Styrofoam (free) Collections
Every Sept, Feb and May
Styrofoam:
~1,000 pounds Styrofoam collected
each time
$250 disposal fee paid by IRAC
Had to turn people away last time
(truck filled early!)

2014/15 Electronics net proceeds:

September to IRAC ($1900)
February to Middle School ($850)
May to ISE ($2500)

MassRecycle Individual Recycler of the Year

Heather Pillis!

Facebook
>420 likes

Ipswich Chronicle Articles

Paula Jones, volunteer
Environmental Steward award for Chronicle!

Topics included:

April 3, 2015 The Financial Benefit of Recycling and Collecting Organics Curbside in Ipswich
March 26, 2015 Recycling Glass
March 19, 2015 Recycling Oversized items
March 12, 2015 Recycling Plastic Bags and Wraps at Supermarket
Feb. 26, 2015 Reducing and Reusing
Feb. 19, 2015 Banning Plastic Bags in Portsmouth, NH, and 6 Towns in MA
Feb. 5, 2015 Recycle Your Unwanted Clothes
Jan. 16, 2015 Recycling Styrofoam
Dec 4, 2015 Ipswich Curbside Composting Program
Dec. 11, 2014 Being Green" for the Holidays
October 2014 Banning Plastic Bags in the US
August 14, 2014 Recycling Cartons
August 7, 2014 Environmental Impact of Plastic Water Bottles
July 26, 2014 What to Do If Your Recycling Was Missed; How to Get Compost at the Transfer Station
July 3, 2014 Styrofoam Recycling and Disposing of Paint

Transfer Station

Transfer Station

Carry In/Carry Out Policy

The Town of Ipswich has introduced a
new Carry In/Carry Out policy for parks,
ballfields and beaches. Trash cans are
not provided. Residents and visitors are
asked to arrive at these locations
prepared to take their trash along with
them and are encouraged to recycle at
home. For this program to succeed, the
cooperation of all coaches, parents and
players is essential. Children will need
extra help and encouragement in
learning how to care for their parks and
fields.

Curbside Composting Program

Tons Composted
200
150
100
50
0
11-Nov

12-Nov

13-Nov

14-Nov

# Households
Year

Cost to Household

Nov 11

$100

Nov 12

$100

Nov 13

$68

Nov 14

$68

Nov 15

$50

500
400
300
200
100
0
11-Nov

12-Nov

13-Nov

14-Nov

Curbside Composting Program

450 participants
Increased participation when fee went to $50 (DPW offsetting $18 each)
Cost to DPW each year for participation offset approx $7,000

Join mainly through word of mouth

November 2015
Will deliver to Agresource in Ipswich
$52 renewal rate

Approximately 13 pounds per household per week

All schools composting 600 lbs diverted weekly (13.2 tons in 2014)
Net savings (minus tip fee) ~$3000 (includes school composting)

Curbside Composting Program

"This is a wonderful program our town has. I love how heavy my
green bin is and how light my trash is. I feel so good about what I am
doing every Wednesday."
After recycling and composting, it's amazing how little trash I have
every week!
I feel proud when I put my bucket out on the street every Tuesday
evening.
We want to continue. We must continue. There's no going back. If
everyone understood how much of their current garbage could be
going into compost, how easy it is and the wonderful soil it creates,
80% of the Ipswich households would want to sign up!

STATISTICS

CY2014 Trash (lbs/hh)

Ipswich is relatively low at ~ 1300 lbs/household
Hamilton is under 1000 lbs/household
Wenham

Amesbury

Ipswich

Manchester btS

Malden

Boxford

Gloucester

Hamilton
0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

CY2014 Recycling Percentage

Ipswich rate is ~ 40%
Hamilton is ~ 53%
Gloucester

Newburyport

Ipswich

Boxford

Manchester btS

Wenham

Hamilton

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Solid Waste And Recycling Trend (tons)

3,000

2,816

2,839

2829

2,500
1,871

2,000

1,933

1834

FY13

1,500

FY14
FY15

1,000
500
0
Solid Waste

Recycling

WHAT ELSE CAN WE

DO?

What else can we do?

Charge for Bulky* Items
(Boxford, Gloucester, Newbury, Topsfield, Danvers, Newburyport all
charge)
Two options:
JRM collects fee (no DPW involvement) at $25
Town sells stickers and collects revenue at $TBD

Mattresses free?? (Received grant)

Benefits:
Save in tipping fees
DEP Dividends program generates additional point ($800)
Generate revenue (sticker option only)
*Bulky item = mattress, upholstered/wood furniture, carpet (excludes electronics)

What else can we do?

Revenue from Recycling, Overthrow bags and other waste reduction efforts to
Enterprise Fund

Revenue from Bags *

$46,000

$44,500

$44,000

Bags Purchased
$8,000

$7,398

$7,000

$42,000
$40,000
$38,000

$6,000

$38,400
$38,000

$5,400

$5,000

$36,000

$4,130

$4,000

$34,000

$3,000

$32,000
$30,000

FY 13
FY 13

FY14

FY15

Revenue

FY14

FY15

$2,000

Cost of Bags

* Little Neck now required to purchase bags

Net Revenue After Purchasing Bags

$38,000
$37,102

$37,000
$36,000
$35,000

$33,870

$34,000
$33,000

$32,999

FY13
FY14
FY15

$32,000
$31,000

$30,000
Net Revenue

Recycling Revenue
Revenue decreasing due to lighter plastics, less newspaper, metal
revenue decreased, etc.
Each ton of trash costs the town $65.14
Ipswich earns $10 per ton for recycling
Revenue (currently goes to general fund)
FY 2012 $19,257.13
FY 2013 $18,717.20
FY 2014 $19,329.40
FY 2015 $18,340.70

IRAC
RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY - IRAC Recommendations

Fiscal Year 2016:
Implement bulky item fee January 1, 2016
Revenue from Recycling, Overthrow bags and other waste
reduction efforts to Enterprise Fund
BOS member to occasionally attend IRAC meetings

Future Considerations
Future Considerations (neighboring towns are doing):
Free curbside composting for all eligible service recipients
Bi-weekly (every other week) Trash with Weekly recycling
PAYT (SMART)
Plastic Bag Ban
Styrofoam Ban

Thank you!
IRC Committee:
(from left to right)

Penny Devoe

Meredith McMorrow

Heather Pillis

Paula Jones

Dave Benedix

Mike Judy

Andrea LaCroix

Nicole Whitten

Judy Sedgewick

Please let us know what you

think