Beverly Waste Reduction Committee

CITY OF BEVERLY WASTE REDUCTION COMMITTEE CITY OF BEVERLY RECEIVED {\~D RECORDED DRAFT Meeting Minutes CITY CLERI\S OFF ICE Thursday November 2, 2023 at 6:30 PM Beverly Public Library, Sohier Room, 32 Essex Street 2024 JAI -2 A 8: 38 Call to Order: 6:31 p.m. Committee members present: Amy Henderson (Chair), Bonnie Dean, John Swain, Sandy Burgess, Lisa Willwerth (Vice Chair) Committee members absent: N/A Invited participants and guests: Amy Murphy, Barbie Papalios, Julia Work, Benjamin Hacker, City of Beverly Director of Sustainability Erina Keefe Review minutes September 14, 2023 meeting - VOTE to approve Corrections needed to September meeting minutes: change Anne Paskey to Anne Poeske; change Barbie P. to Barbie Papalios; change $30.82 to $30.20; and equivalent of 4 large totes to equivalent of 4 large barrels. Willwerth moved to approve the September 14, 2023, meeting minutes with the above corrections; Swain seconded. The motion carried (5-0). Administrative Updates and Status Reports • Update on new Committee member status: Julia Work and Barbie Papalios have applied to join the committee and have begun the next steps in the process. Benjamin Hacker has expressed intent to apply to the committee. • Budget Update: The WRC account has a balance of $21,757,90 as of October 31, 2023. WRC intends to find small ways to utilize the funds for educational and outreach purposes in 2024. Meeting and Event Reports • Farmers Market/Green Beverly Tent (September 18, 2023) WRC attended the Beverly Farmers Market in the Green Beverly tent to talk about composting and recycling with members of the public. The day of the event was rainy, but WRC was able to talk to at least five people and introduce them to composting. Dean attended the Green Beverly tent the prior week informed the public about upcoming events, and told people how to get involved. WRC is expected to volunteer at the Green Beverly Tent next year, they want to aim for earlier in the season (June or July) and educate the public on topics more applicable to the farmers market. Swain suggested volunteering for more than one week.  • Tour of Greenworks Hacker attended a tour of Green Works, a local recycling process facility that handles single-stream recycling. Hacker learned more about single-stream recycling during the visit. In particular, he discovered that recycling glass is not as effective as it should be and that whenever possible, folks should utilize bottle returns, which are more likely to be recycled. At Greenworks, glass is typically separated out and utilized as landfill cover rather than being recycled. The products most likely to be recycled at Greenworks are number 1, 2, and 5 plastics. Greenworks reported that since the change from JRM to Republic the contamination rate has dropped from 30% to 15%. • Fixit Clinic Friends of the Beverly Farms Public Library hosted a Fixit Clinic on October 21, 2023, from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m. with a number of volunteers ("coaches") from Braintree, Boston, Salem, and Beverly and food donated by Vidalias for the coaches. The bike tent on site performed six repairs. Inside the library, coaches assisted in repairing clothing items, jewelry, and small appliances and providing computer IT help. The results have not been fmalized, but it is estimated that 50 items came in, and a large number of them were repaired. In future clinics, WRC should keep a running list of what has been repaired to keep the excitement of the event high, consider limiting the number of items any individual person can bring in, receive photo releases from coaches to be able to take photographs of the event, have a knife sharpener available and emphasize to the public that walk-ins are welcome. WRC is planning to hold its own Fixit Clinic in 2024, possibly in February or in the spring. • Product Stewardship Council (MassRecycles) No members of WRC were able to make the last Product Stewardship Council Meeting, and the next meeting is in February. The current initiative is to push for a bill that will require manufacturers to accept paint cans. It may be helpful to perform a survey to see how many Beverly residents have paint cans in their homes. The Product Stewardship Council also sent out an email requesting signatures on a petition to endorse Massachusetts Product Stewardship Legislation and initiatives. WRC needs to review the legislation and decide whether to endorse the proposed legislation. The last question of the petition asks if the municipal body governing the town of city you are in has signed the resolution. WRC would like to present the proposed legislation to the Mayor and City Council for their review and encourage them to endorse it. The Product Stewardship Council has a presentation they are willing to share with the City Council. The following are links to the proposed legislation: Massachusetts H. 823 : An Act Relative to Paint Recycling; Massachusetts H. 881: An Act to Establish a Mattress Recycling Program in the Commonwealth; and Massachusetts S. 471 : An Act to Reduce Waste and Recycling Costs in the Commonwealth. Chair Henderson will update with executive summaries of the proposed legislation if found. Upcoming Events • Pumpkin Smash at New Ent:ty Farm (November 5, 2023, 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.) The scope of WRC involvement includes providing 2 waste stations and an education table. A small waste station will be located at the entrance, and the main waste station will be in the same place it was last year. WRC Chair Henderson will provide a map of the event as well as who will be volunteering at each station. WRC will also volunteer at an education table with a recycling sorting event and an educational component on what the City is doing concerning waste reduction. Vice Chair  Willwerth and Director Keefe will have a list of what needs to be brought to the event and who is taking items back. WRC has sufficient volunteers to staff this event. The event will have 2 or 3 food vendors and a couple of beer vendors; WRC has provided each vendor with information about making the event zero waste. Black Earth Compost sent out an email concerning the state of waste in Massachusetts, highlighting the importance of events like the Pumpkin Smash, in which Black Earth Compost was involved. In furtherance of this event and the Black Earth email, WRC proposes to utilize money in the budget for signage concerning the state of waste in Massachusetts. Last year, WRC approved of a $2,000 budget for signage and thus far WRC has only utilized $600 of those funds. • Massachusetts Product Stewardship Council Meeting (February 27, 2024 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. virtually) Chair Henderson will remind the group again of this meeting in both January and February. • MassRecycle Conference and Trade Show (March 19, 2024 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.) This event takes place in Marlborough, MA, and costs $150 a person, along with a $300 fee for municipal membership for the group. The event was excellent last year and generated a number of ideas for better waste reduction. • Paper Shredding Event with Beverly Council on Aging (TBD) In September, the Beverly Council on Aging reached out to WRC to co-sponsor a shredding event. WRC is waiting on a proposed date in Spring 2024. City Updates • On January 13, 2023, the City will be hosting a styrofoam recycling event, and there may be an option for advanced drop-off for one day. • There is a shared interest between the City and WRC to have a zero waste day in April 2024, which may consist of having shredding available, recycling for bulky rigid plastics, and other zero waste initiatives. Other Business • RDP Grant Awlication Review: The proposed zero-waste day will allow for RDP points. Karen Cotter has also asked WRC what other initiatives can be taken that WRC can spearhead. Swain and Hacker are reviewing last year's RDP Grant Application and will plan to lead a discussion in the future. • Win Waste Tour: This tour is not scheduled yet, Dean Berg has been given the contact information for everyone who signed up to take the tour. • WRC Website Review: WRC should consider updating the website including: putting a mission statement on the website, clearly posting upcoming events, discussions on why it is important to reduce waste (Black Earth Compost email), providing best practices for reducing waste, linking  to resources on the City webpage, linking to Keep Beverly Beautiful and Green Beverly website, listing of WRC accomplishments, and add articles written by WRC. WRC members should send any ideas for updating the website to Chair Henderson. • New Member Document: Vice Chair Willwerth is continuing to work on the new member document; she will set it up as a live Google document for review and editing. • WRC Guest Speakers: Sabrina Auclair, founder of Unpacked Living, may come to speak with WRC in February 2024. WRC will discuss future speakers at upcoming meetings. • Senior Soiree: Beverly Council on Aging reached out to WRC to see if they would like to contribute funds to the Senior Soiree scheduled for January 11, 2024. WRC declined to contribute to the event but suggested that they could have a zero-waste table for seniors at the event. Dean volunteered to attend the event, and Swain stated he may also be able to attend. WRC will also reach out to Black Earth Compost to see if they can provide a small bin for composting and provide zero-waste best practices to the caterer and organizer. Other Updates and Discussion Items by Committee Members • Swain offered to assist members of WRC with recycling or transferring items members no longer have use for. • Vice Chair Willwerth asked if there was any update on the restaurant pilot program, and she was advised to seek an update from Dean Berg. • Vice Chair Willwerth also checked on the status of payment for former intern Grace Bell, which is currently being sorted out. • Dean plans to post pictures of the Pumpkin Smash recycling game on the WRC Instagram page. Adjourn: Swain moved to adjourn; Dean seconded. The motion carried (5-0) at 8:14 p.m. Dates to Remember: November 5, 2023 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. Pumpkin Smash March 19, 2024 Mass Recycle Conference and Trade Show NEXT MEETING TBD January 2024 Location: Beverly Public Library, 32 Essex Street, Sohier Room