Resource Recycling Advisory Council

Resource Recycling Advisory Commission Meeting of September 23, 2019 Middletown Senior Center, 7 PM Members Present: Monica Belyea, Izzy Guy, Robin Hanson, Alison Johnson, Krishna Winston. Members not present: Bessie Bianco, Chantel DeArmitt, Rebecca MacLachlan, Harold Panciera, Debbie Stanley Member of the Public Present: None Public Works Staff Present: Kim O’Rourke The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm. The minutes of the July meeting were approved as presented. Recycling Coordinator Report Kim O’Rourke handed out the new recycling buttons. Thanks to Monica Belyea for making them and to Rebecca MacLachlan for the design! Now we all can have a proper button when we are doing outreach. Ms. O’Rourke said the food waste carts are at the recycling center and being used. They get half full each week. She said she plans to reach out to coffee shops, to see if would want to bring down their food waste. Members suggested reaching out to the businesses in Remington Rand and the food pantry in that area. The Connecticut Recyclers Coalition held their annual meeting on September 20th. Commissioner Dykes spoke from the DEEP and Lynn Rubinstein from NERC. CT DEEP is expecting up to 40% of its staff to retire in the next two years. Lynn gave an update on recycling markets. She said it looks like pricing will continue to be down for the next couple years. But investments are being made in the US and once more domestic markets open up, recycling prices should become more positive. The City’s mixed recycling and corrugated cardboard contract is ending Dec. 31, so an RFP will be issued in the next month. Chairman’s Report Krishna Winston reported on the Repair Café. It was very successful. She thanked everyone from the Commission who volunteered. The Dekoven House was a great place to have it. Members made some suggestions:  Have a limit on how many knives can be sharpened at a time  Have the City invest in knife sharpening equipment  No gold chains.  Definitely have a scheduling coordinator (Tony did a great job)   Take the last item at 2:45, or fifteen minutes before the end. Members felt this was an excellent event and they were very interested in offering it twice a year in Middletown. It does depend on the volunteers and if they would be willing to come twice to Middletown (there also is one in Old Saybrook in the spring). Swap Shack Sat. 9/28 Robin Wed. 10/2 Krishna Wed 10/9 Izzy Sat. 10/12 HazWaste Wed 10/16 Alison Sat 10/19 Robin Wed 10/23 Izzy Sat 10/26 Krishna Reusable Bag Outreach Ms. O’Rourke reviewed the outreach she and others have done this summer. Members discussed the initiative and said they would love to see the bag outreach continue. They asked Ms. O’Rourke to see if Public Works would purchase more bags for continued outreach. Sustainable Purchasing Policy Harold Panciera is working with Sustainable CT to develop a comprehensive sustainable purchasing policy for the City. He and Ms. O’Rourke coordinated a meeting with the City and BOE purchasing supervisors. The Supervisors were agreeable but felt we really needed a committee of city directors to develop and buy in to the policy. This will not be possible to do until the new Mayor is elected. Right now we are focusing on trying to get the City to purchase recycled paper. Members felt the City should have a check list for buying sustainably. Is this a sustainable product? Is it recyclable? There was some discussion about recycling construction waste similar to Wesleyan. Household Hazardous Waste Volunteers for HHW 8:30 – 1:00 Robin, Krishna, Izzy, Justus and Alison Upcoming Events a. MacDonough School Community Day, Fri. Sept. 27 b. Compost Bin Distribution Sat. Sept. 28, Vet’s Park c. HHW Day Sat. Oct. 12, MxCC (Volunteers Needed) d. Halloween Event Oct. 19 e. City Health Fair, Tues. Oct. 22 Jonah Center Event – Oct. 15 Ms. Winston announced that the Jonah Center is having an event about why Middletown is losing trees and what can be done about it on Oct. 15th. The meeting adjourned at 8:15pm. Respectfully submitted, Kim O’Rourke Kim O’Rourke Recycling Coordinator The meeting adjourned at 8:15pm. Respectfully submitted, Kim O’Rourke Kim O’Rourke Recycling Coordinator