Sanitary Disposal District Commission

City of Middletown SANITATION COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Monday, January 30, 2023 Time: 4:30 PM Members Present: John Porter, Committee Member Monica Belyea, Committee Member Staff Present: Christopher M. Holden, P.E., Director of Public Works Kim O’Rourke, Recycling Coordinator 1. Director Holden opens meeting at 4:30 PM. 2. Minutes – Minutes were not approved as there was no quorum. 3. Correspondence – None 4. New Business a. Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Grant Update- Kim O’Rourke shared that the bags for the co-collection program have been distributed and have been collected since mid-November. The green bags have about a 22% contamination rate. Additional education will be given to residents to hopefully remedy this. Educational tagging of carts is happening. There have been several community education events held. b. Recycling Market Update- All of 2022 we were paid for cardboard recycling. Beginning in 2023 we started to have to pay for it. A new, one year contract is in place so it will be a 0% flat fee. It will keep us from being charged for cardboard but we also won’t get paid for it. Recycling costs have trended up so our cost is up to $100 per ton. The City is paying more per ton to get rid of our recycling than trash. Kim O’Rourke also said that at this price point there is no incentive for small haulers to separate the trash from recycling. She shared that the solution to this issue is to hold producers responsible for paying the cost of residential recycling. Two studies have some out this last year out of what is happening in Canada with an EPR program. The cost is so small when it is spread out across products (fractions of a penny) that the cost increase has been minimal to none. The argument that it is going to cost more to the consumer isn’t valid. EPR has been proven to work in Canada and Europe. c. Other- Spoke about support for a tire EPR. Meeting schedule could not be accepted as there was no quorum. 5. Old Business a. Cardboard & Mixed Recycling Report- nothing additional to new business. b. Tonnage Report- nothing additional to new business. 6. Other- Nothing additional. The meeting adjourned at 5:08 PM