Sterling Department of Public Works

 Bill Tuttle, Superintendent

Some additional info

With the exception of the new regulation regarding a three bag limit the trash rules and regulations have not changed in the last eight years. These regulations are available here at the DPW office, they are given to any new resident that signs on for water and they have been mailed to all residents several times in the last eight years.

 Two years ago Sterling had a recycling rate of about 42%. It has dropped to 38%. In 2005 our average monthly tonnage for trash was 180 tons. In 2006 it rose 7.2 % to 193 tons while in the same period the town’s population only increased by 1%.

 As regarding the volume of trash, Sterling generated approximately 2300 tons of trash from 2700 households in 2006. This works out to an average of about 32 lbs. per household. A typical 30 gallon trash bag weighs about 18 lbs. and according to our regulations it is allowed to weigh up to 30 lbs. One of the heaviest items nowadays in trash is diapers. The average diaper weighs .4lbs. (yes, I have weighed them). If you used eight diapers per day it would only generate 22 lbs. of trash.

 We have tried to take into account that not all families are the same and therefore have set the bag limit at three thirty gallon bags (or an equivalent volume of smaller bags). This limit is based on information we have collected from various sources including other towns that have imposed similar limits. (some towns have lower limits)

Occasionally, when a family exceeds the three bag limit, like Christmas, birthday parties, etc., there will be some leeway given. If our collector sees that you have four or five bags out this week and normally you never have more than two he will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you had extra for a legitimate reason and will pick it all up. Everyone, in fact, will be given a little leeway the first week. We will also be attaching warning notes, prior to refusing to pick the trash up, if someone violates the regulations.

 If a resident has more than three bags on a particular week they can bring it to the Recycling Center at the DPW and dispose of it.

At the beginning of this current trash contract I was not pleased with doing away with   #4 – 7 plastics. However, I discovered that even though we accepted them in the past (as many communities do), the recycling plants have always treated them as trash. Nationwide very few plastics recycling facilities have made the effort to develop the recycling capacity and markets for #4 – 7 plastics (there are none in New England as far as I know). The reason being is while we think huge amounts of these plastics are being used, actually there is not. According to statistics compiled by the National Recycling Council and the EPA, plastics in general account for approximately 5% of the municipal waste stream. Plastics # 1 – 3 account for almost 90% of this 5%.  The rest is split between #4- 7. Consequently the reprocessing facilities have concentrated on # 1- 3. I believe there has not been a serious impact on our recycling rate as a result of no longer recycling #4-7 plastics. 

There are two main reasons for developing better recycling rates. One, it saves the town a significant amount of money. Two, it’s the right thing to do for the environment.

 I hope this answers some of your questions. If you have any other questions concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me at the Sterling Department of Public Works.