Annual Report 2007-2008(color).pub - Town of South Windsor

Department of Public Works
Since the implementation of the program for the
automated collection of refuse in 2004, there
have been increases in the program efficiency
and cost effectiveness. Workers safety has
been improved, annual costs have been
stabilized, and the program has provided a more
equitable distribution of program costs through
the opportunity for home owners to purchase
additional containers. The automated refuse
collection program has contributed to a neat and
tidy neighborhood appearance on collection day.
The Public Works Department has researched
the opportunities to further reduce recycling
costs through implementation of a program for
single-stream recycling. This program is a
system by which all paper and containers are
mixed within a single collection bin instead of
being sorted into separates commodities
(newspaper, plastic, metal, glass, etc.) by the
resident and handled separately throughout the
collection process. In this regard, this method of
collecting recyclables would be similar to the
Town’s current program of automated refuse
collection. Later next year, the Department will
be soliciting competitive bids for the collection of
both refuse and recyclables, and the option for
single-stream recycling will be considered.
In the past year, household hazardous wastes
from 348 South Windsor households were
collected and safely disposed of through a
regional cooperation effort.
Through the recycling programs, the Town has
been able to reduce the quantity of solid waste
that would otherwise have to be disposed of at a
landfill: this cost avoidance represented cost
savings to the Town during the past year of
$528,533.
C. F. Shaw
Superintendent of Pollution Control
The following table compares Town residential recycling efforts of this past year with those of the year
before.
Recycled Items
Recycled Items 2005 - 2006 2006 – 2007 2007 – 2008
Commingled recyclables
2,845.83 2,419.13 2,491.90
Newspaper/cardboard (tons), food
and beverage containers
Batteries (tons) 2.36 2.56 2.90
Leaves (tons) 6,575 4,896.06 6,020
Scrap Metal (tons) 236.59 213.36 149.67
Christmas Trees (cubic yards) 135 175 106
Used Oil Filters 550 408 440
Antifreeze (gallons) 135 105 75
Waste Oil (gallons) 4,336 5,045 4,102
18 | Town of South Windsor: Annual Report 2007/2008