Two Meetings to Re-Think the Transfer Station

December 6 at Transfer Station; December 13 at Town Hall

November 30, 2014 • Saved under News
By Sophie Viandier, Board of Selectmen
Deb Guinard looks down from the new "crow's nest" in the Transfer Station's recycling building, a vantage point that helps her keep prohibited materials out of the recycling compactor so we don't have a load rejected by our single-stream processor. "Plastic bags of any kind are not allowed, even if they're recyclable," Deb reminds everyone. "They can wreck the single stream sorting machines!" Another big problem is used tissues, used paper towels, used paper plates, and dirty food containers. "Even if it's recyclable, it can't go in the single-stream container if it's dirty or contaminated," Deb says. Photo: Charlie Darling
Deb Guinard looks down from the new “crow’s nest” in the Transfer Station’s recycling building, a vantage point that helps her keep prohibited materials out of the recycling compactor so we don’t have a load rejected by our single-stream processor. “Plastic bags of any kind are not allowed, even if they’re recyclable,” Deb reminds everyone. “They can wreck the single stream sorting machines!” Another big problem is used tissues, used paper towels, used paper plates, and dirty food containers. “Even if it’s recyclable, it can’t go in the single-stream container if it’s dirty or contaminated,” Deb says. Photo: Charlie Darling

I love the Andover Transfer Station. It’s where I catch up on local news, find new treasures for my home, and “shop” for my friends’ birthday gifts. The dump has gone through a lot of transformations since its move from Monticello. We need to plan for resiliency through redundancy and collective creativity.

Markets related to waste are changing rapidly. We are faced with new packaging, difficulties at material recovery facilities, transportation changes, smaller electronics that perform a million functions, and on and on. The economy in foreign countries is changing the demand on products here in Andover – China isn’t demanding metal from the US due to its “Green Fence” initiative. These issues can be hard to predict. A little planning and forethought will be a powerful force in keeping afloat.

Please join the Transfer Station employees, fellow Andover citizens, and me for a collaborative analysis and assessment of our Transfer Station on Saturday, December 6, at the Town Hall from 9 AM to noon.  Dress warmly, as we will be walking around the dump to look at traffic patterns, equipment, buildings, etc.

Then on Saturday, December 13, from 9 AM to noon,  help create an informed design for an “ideal” Transfer Station that addresses those things we looked at on December 6.  We’ll also discuss the budget, recycling, the Swap Shop, and much, much more! We will be in the Town Hall basement that day.

In addition to those two meetings, the survey on the Andover Transfer Station at AndoverBeacon.com/DumpSurvey is a quick (three minutes or less) questionnaire to begin a month-long analysis of our beloved dump. Please send any additional comments, reflections, suggestions, etc. to SGViandier@nullgmail.com.