Bristol considers program modeled after foam recycling in Gilford

BRISTOL — Chuck Cullen, supervisor of the Bristol Transfer Station, along with members of the selectboard, have been consulting the town of Gilford as their own town looks into ways of reducing the amount of solid waste being hauled to landfills. In particular, they are interested in Gilford’s recycling effort aimed at removing polystyrene from the waste stream.

“Styrofoam is not going away,” Cullen said. “We have a lot of styrofoam that comes in and is filling up our dumpsters.”

By reducing the number of trips necessary to empty the containers, the town would save on hauling fees, and recycling the foam could bring money in, he told the selectboard last month.

Cullen said Environmental Planner Matt Rose, of the Lakes Region Planning Commission, would like to add recycling to efforts such as Household Hazardous Waste Day. Rose put Cullen in touch with Gilford’s director of public works, Meghan Theriault. With Rose’s help, Gilford got a full grant to purchase a machine that allows the town to package up foam for a Canadian company able to reuse it.

“It takes the styrofoam, chews it up, spits it out, and it comes out heated, and comes out to be a tube, and they put it on a pallet, and then they store the pallet. Once they get the pallet stored, 30 of them, there’s a place in Canada that will take this product,” Cullen said.

The town might not get much money from the foam recycling, but it does get rid of it and make more room for municipal solid waste, Cullen said, adding Rose is willing to write Bristol’s grant application.

“He thinks he can get it 100% paid,” Cullen said. “When he did [Gilford’s] grant, [the LRPC has] been looking for somebody on this side of the lakes.”

Plymouth recycles polystyrene, but getting it to Gilford is a long drive. Alexandria began collecting it but quit because of the distance. A recycling station in Bristol would give them a closer place for disposal, Cullen said.

Town Administrator Christina Goodwin and Selectboard member Scott Sanschagrin joined Cullen in visiting Gilford’s facility and reported back to the selectboard on Dec. 5.

In response to questions about the cost of maintaining the equipment, Goodwin said, “They had really no maintenance until they made a mistake.”

She explained that they overheated the machine and, instead of letting it cool down, they turned it off. That allowed the liquid foam to solidify.

“They have a picture of their worker sticking his head into this machine, and they were chipping it up,” she said. “We actually learned from their mistakes, if we do this.”

Gilford takes foam from 20 communities and, so far, made two half-deliveries, earning $8,000 in revenue, according to Goodwin.

Selectboard members voiced some reservations. It would take two people to operate the machine — one feeding it and other collecting the material on the other end. Unlike Gilford, which operates its transfer station Tuesdays through Saturdays, Bristol’s facility is open only three days a week with part-time help. Gilford’s income is based on 20 communities; Bristol would begin with three.

“It’s the same conversation we’ve had about recycling,” said Carroll Brown. “Why so many times we’ve stopped recycling because it costs you more money to recycle than not recycling.

"Any time you get a grant, it’s all wonderful, it’s all free. And then, five years down the road, was it? What’s it costing you to operate it, to maintain it, and what are you getting for revenue? Does the revenue cover the cost of operating it?”

Chair Rob Glassett commented, “Even if you’re breaking even, it’s a positive impact environmentally.”

The board also discussed recycling plastic bags, noting Hannaford recycles them.

“If they’re willing to take the bags, then we bring our bags to them,” Goodwin said. “They tally how many bags we’re dropping off, and then they send that to the company. And at the end of the year, if you meet a certain number of bags, you get a bench.”

When Glassett spoke of the environmental benefit of keeping plastic out of the oceans, Brown responded, “There’s no way a trash bag from Bristol is getting in the ocean.

"I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but what I want is to make sure is that, if we go to Town Meeting, we know what we’re saying.”

Sanschagrin said, “The other thing we learned [by visiting Gilford] was that, by having an actual scale to weigh trucks, they gained 50% [in revenues]. They weren’t charging enough.”

Brown said he learned during visits to Laconia and Concord that “there will be people complaining about how slow that process is. It’s really slow. ... You have to weigh your truck twice. You have to wait around behind everybody, and go around and weight it a second time.”

Glassett concurred, adding, “And then you need to stay for somebody to run that scale. Then the scale has to be certified every year.”

Goodwin said she would ask Rose to attend a future meeting to offer more details about the recycling options.