Downtown recycling kicks off

Downtown merchants kicked off their campaign to recycle cardboard and paper yesterday.

"The participation of the downtown merchants marks a significant advance in our recycling program," Ann Saltmarsh of the public works department said. "All the credit goes to the Laconia Main Street program and especially to Warren Clement of the Sundial Shop, who got the ball rolling." Each week cardboard and mixed paper will be collected for recycling, with Waste Management, Inc. and public works picking up on alternate weeks.

For several years Charlie St. Clair, dubbed the "recycling junkie" by Steve Swan of Waste Management, Inc., patrolled Main Street on Monday nights, separating and collecting the cardboard left at the curbside. "I'm getting my Monday nights back," he remarked yesterday. "Now that I don't have to come down here, I can pick up at other places."

Waste Management is supplying the "toters," wheeled bins to further the effort. Jamie Adams explained that the "toters," which hold up to 200 pounds of cardboard or mixed paper, are designed to be lifted from the curb and emptied into the truck mechanically. "They make life much easier for everyone," he said. "They cut time, save effort and they are much safer."

Looking to the success of the recycling program, St. Clair said that "it's not just the downtown merchants and not just business people and it's not just cardboard, it's newspaper. Everyone should be encouraged to participate."

Saltmarsh, who will chair a Recycling Committee formed on the recommendation of City Manager Eileen Cabanel and with the approval of the City Council, said she expects that the members of the panel will be selected soon. She said the committee will begin by determining what more can be done to boost recycling within the terms of the city's current contract with Waste Management and then begin considering what to add to future collection and disposal contracts to improve the program.

Each ton of recycled material withdrawn from the solid waste stream represents a saving of $115. But, the collection of recyclables, regardless of tonnage, costs $10,000 a month. Saltmarsh said that the city must double its tonnage of recyclables in order to break even. "Having the downtown merchants on board is a big step in the right direction," she said. "We are moving forward with the restaurants next."