Recycling & Sanitation Commission

Recycling and Sanitation Commission Minutes of the Monthly Meeting September 17, 2014 Commission Members and Others in Attendance: Pete Bowlus J A Burke (Guest and Representative of Mount Airy Messenger) Mike Dixon (Guest and Town Resident) Tobi Drabczyk Peggy Fleming Ken Humble Tom Neff James Stargel (Chairman) Councilman Scott Strong was not in attendance 1. Chairman Stargel called the meeting to order and Peggy Fleming led all in the Pledge of Allegiance 2. July 2014 minutes were approved with motion by Tom Neff and second by Ken Humble. 3. Citizen's Comments a. Mike Dixon, owner of Critical Power and a town resident, brought more information on recycling batteries. Reliable does not accept the small batteries (AA, AAA, cell phone etc), but will accept wet lead acid batteries and car batteries. They will pay from $3 to a $7. Copper Jack will accept the larger batteries also. Battery Recyclers of America will take the batteries for free, but they must be 2,500 lbs and on one pallet. They will give you certification that all have been recycled. Battery Solutions will come and pick up batteries (pallet holding 2,500 lbs), but you must pay the shipping charges which can be in excess of $250. Mr. Dixon would like to give a small gift to those that recycle batteries to help encourage recycling. He had checked on a collection box similar to the post office collection boxes and the cost of a steel box would be around $900 a piece. After discussion, a suggestion was made to incorporate a battery drop off the same time as the Spring Shred Event. Also, try to do another battery drop off after the time change when most change the batteries in their clocks, etc. Commission member Pete Bowlus asked Mr. Dixon if he had considered joining our commission since he is both a town resident and a town business owner. Mr. Dixon did indicate he would be interested, and Chairman Stargel explained the process. 4. Yard Waste Collection Code a. After discussion, it was decided not to proceed any further with revising the yard waste collection code to include verbiage regarding setting out the bags too far ahead of the collection day. 5. Downtown Recycling Center Camera a. Commission was not sure if a test had been done for the camera to check the clarity. 6. Elkridge Recycling Facility Trip a. Chairman Stargel and commission members Pete Bowlus, Peggy Fleming and Tom Neff visited the Waste Management Recycle America facility this morning. They were shown a DVD of the operation and then were given a tour of the actual sorting. Chairman Stargel will request a copy of the DVD and the website link. The facility runs 3 - 8 hour shifts and currently they are operating six days a week. They receive an average of 1,200 tons of recyclables in a 24 hour shift and the goal is to process it all. 100% of the paper is sent to China, 90 to 95% of the cardboard and plastic is sent to China, rigid plastic (child's playhouse, etc) is sent to India, all aluminum is sold to Anheuser-Busch, and tin and glass is recycled locally. Plastic bags are NOT recycled; they pull them out of the single stream and trash them. If we wish to recycle plastic bags, then they need to be put in the store containers. Any trash they pull out is sent to  Baltimore BRESCO . It was noted that perhaps both the Carroll County and the Frederick County recycling staff should be made aware that the plastic bags in single stream are trashed at the facility. Any medical waste, including needles used at home, will cause the entire load to be rejected and all is sent to trash. If other contaminates are found at the tipping floor, the Supervisors will check and determine if it can be sent back as trash which then causes the rebates to be reduced for the municipalities. 7. Recycling CFL Light Bulbs a. Commission member Tom Neff advised he had been approached by a business owner regarding the proper way to recycle CFL and fluorescent light bulbs. The CFL bulbs contain mercury. Tom Neff will research and bring the information to the November meeting. 8. Dual Language Signage for Recycling a. Chairman Stargel asked if the Commission felt dual language signs were needed for recycling. The languages would be English and Spanish. It was decided to discuss further when Councilman Strong is in attendance. 9. Recycling Toters Replacement Plan a. The Commission feels a plan is needed for replacement toters. The tour guide at Recycle America noted he lives in Howard County and they give residents a new toter every five years. The Town provides the toters for the Carroll County town residents and Frederick County provides for the town residents that live in Frederick County. Suggested money saved in the Recycling and Sanitation budget could be used to purchase new toters. 10. Commission Report to the Town Council a. It was suggested that the Recycling and Sanitation report to the Town Council should include the trash, recycled, and yard waste tonnage. 11. Pete Bowlus made a motion to adjourn; Tom Neff seconded. 15. Next Regular Meeting - Wednesday, November 19 @ 7pm SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS: • Chairman Stargel to request WM Recycle America DVD and web link to the DVD • Chairman Stargel to ask Waste Management if they have toters with dual language signs • Tom Neff to research recycling CFL and fluorescent bulbs. • All to think about a plan to replace the toters for the Carroll County town residents Peggy Fleming, Secretary