Alice Waugh from the Lincoln Squirrel is allowing me to share five great
articles she wrote about the transfer station: Single-Stream Recycling, Trash,
Other Recycling at the TS, Other Recycling Not at the TS, and the Three R’s.
Below is an adapted version based on the original from Lincoln Squirrel. If
you wish to read the full articles, check out the Lincoln Squirrel.
“Where does it all go?” Part 1: Single-stream recycling
lincolnsquirrel.com/2022/08/where-does-it-all-go-part-1-single-stream-recycling/
Alice Waugh
Lincolnites are pretty conscientious about trying to recycle, but contamination
is a problem here and everywhere else. Through carelessness or
misunderstanding, people sometimes throw things that ought to be recycled into
the trash, and throw trash into their recycling bin. In a series of articles,
the Lincoln Squirrel will look at what happens to everything that gets dropped
off at the transfer station as well as some tips on how to recycle more
effectively.
Also in this series below:
Part 2: Trash
Part 3: Recycling beyond single-stream
Part 4: Recycling beyond the transfer station
Part 5: The 5 R’s
Like many towns, Lincoln’s transfer station accepts single-stream recycling in
a bin where people can toss paper and junk mail, cardboard, metal cans, plastic
bottles, clean aluminum foil, and some plastic food and beverage containers.
But then what happens to all that stuff after it leaves town? Waste Management
(WM) picks up the roll-off containers of recyclables and takes them to its
materials recovery facility (MRF) in Billerica, where everything is dumped onto
a tipping floor. The commingled items are then loaded into an elaborate
multi-step sorting machine that plucks out different materials at various
points. As the items go by on a conveyor belt, human operators also pick out as
much nonrecyclable material as they can.
Mixed paper and cardboard are easily recyclable and can be made into new
cardboard, paper, paper napkins, etc. WM sells most of these materials to Pratt
Industries and Westrock, according to Chris Lucarelle, Waste Management’s Area
Director for Recycling Operations. Glass gets crushed and made into new glass
products as well as fiberglass insulation. Metal cans meet a similar fate.
Plastic items are labeled with a resin identification number inside a
triangular recycling logo that indicates the molecular structure of the
plastic. Plastics jugs, bottles and tubs with their plastic lids left on (these
are generally #1, #2, and #5) are recyclable at MRF. No plastic bags are
recyclable at this facility.
What you can and can’t recycle in Lincoln
How does an environmentally conscious resident know what’s recyclable?
RecycleSmartMA.org has an excellent Recyclopedia where you can look up items
(find the link on the DPW website. Waste Management also has a Recycling 101
website. A general rule of thumb: if it isn’t a container — or if you’re in
doubt at all — put it in the trash.
Here are a few of the things that many people “wishcycle” that should not go
into the single- stream container:
Plastic drink lids, cutlery, straws
White Polystyrene clamshell “to go” containers
Waxed cardboard milk/juice containers with plastic screw caps
Frozen food boxes (they also contain wax)
Paper cups and their lids (they have a plastic lining)
Colored plastic cold cups (clear ones are OK)
Plastic food envelopes for snacks, drink pouches, etc.
Cardboard food canisters with metal rims containing nuts, chips, etc.
Black plastic. Why? Plastics are sorted by bouncing a beam of light off them
and they are the same color as the conveyor belt.
Any kind of plastic bag, wrap or film
Coat hangers, wires, tubing, etc. (these items, along with plastic bags, can
tangle the sorting machinery)
Screws, nuts, bolts, tools
Larger metal or plastic objects such as toys or appliances
Styrofoam molded package insulation or packing peanuts
Prescription medicine bottles – take medicine to the public safety (police)
building
Anything contaminated with food (it doesn’t need to be pristine, but rinsed out)
“Where does it all go?” Part 2: Trash
lincolnsquirrel.com/2022/08/where-does-it-all-go-part-2-trash/ Alice Waugh
Before there was a transfer station and before most people had heard of
recycling, Lincolnites either burned their garbage in their back yard or
brought it to the landfill, a.k.a. the town dump. The grassy hill with white
gas vent pipes on your right as you enter the transfer station is all you can
see of Lincoln’s landfill since it was closed in 1986 and capped in 1990.
Lincoln’s transfer station has two trash dropoff containers: the compactor next
to the single- stream recycling bin, and the bulky item one across from the new
swap shed where you can toss larger items like furniture directly from your
vehicle. The bulky item bin will be locked all the time, so residents will have
to ask an attendant to open it when they want to drop items inside. That move
is an attempt to reduce trash “contamination” — meaning prohibited items that
were thrown into the trash and should be recycled or disposed of in some other
manner instead.
This is a potential problem. The town has been getting warnings from WM (Waste
Management), which picks up the transfer station’s trash and takes it to a
waste-to-energy (WTE) facility operated by Wheelabrator in North Andover, one
of seven in the state. Companies can refuse to accept MSW (Municipal Solid
Waste) loads that contain more than 30% contaminants — meaning items that
aren’t allowed in the trash any more such as mattresses and lumber.
Because the trash from Lincoln’s two current containers are brought in
separately, it’s been easy to see that most of Lincoln’s trash contamination is
coming from the gated container rather than the new bin next to the
single-stream recycling bin. Lincoln was also fined about a year ago after
someone threw tires in the bulky item bin. Tires are not accepted any place at
the transfer station and must be recycled by a service station.
So what happens to the trash?
When the trash is burned in Wheelabrator’s WTE facility, it yields electricity
and heat but also some air pollution in the form of toxic chemicals and fly
ash. Anywhere from 10-25% of incinerated trash winds up as toxic solid bottom
ash. Wheelabrator takes it to the Peabody Monofill Associates Ash Landfill.
In 2019 (the last year for which a report is available), the largest category
of trash at Wheelabrator in North Andover was organic material, which includes
food waste, branches, stumps, smaller yard waste, and manure. Because of its
relatively high moisture content, food waste takes more energy to burn than it
yields, and it’s also one of the heavier components of household waste, which
is a financial issue since the town pays by the ton for trash hauling. However,
Lincoln’s transfer station has accepted compostable material since 2019.
Residential waste by category that was processed by Wheelabrator in North
Andover in 2019. (Source: “Wheelabrator North Andover, Inc. 2019 Waste
Characterization Study Report in Support of Class II Recycling Program,” page
17.)
As of 2020, Peabody was one of only 19 landfills still in operation in
Massachusetts; another 942 MSW landfills and dumping grounds have been closed
over the years, and most are or will be capped, or covered to minimize the
percolation of stormwater through the buried trash and into groundwater and
wetlands.
Though there are a lot fewer landfills nationwide than there once were, they
still emit carbon dioxide and methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Landfills
accounted for about 15% of methane emissions in the U.S. in 2020, according to
the Environmental Protection Agency, which notes that methane emissions from
landfills that year were roughly equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions
from about 20.3 million passenger vehicles driven for one year. As of 2022,
there were 13 landfills in the state that are current or potential candidates
for the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program that aims to harvest landfill
gas for energy, but Lincoln’s is not one of them.
Not allowed in Massachusetts trash (see articles below for more information on
these items):
Asphalt pavement, brick and concrete
Cathode ray tubes
Clean gypsum wallboard
Ferrous and non-ferrous metals
Glass and metal containers
Lead acid batteries
Leaves and yard waste
Mattresses
Recyclable paper, cardboard, paperboard
Textiles
Treated and untreated wood
White goods (large appliances)
Car tires
“Where does it all go?” Part 3: Recycling beyond single- stream
lincolnsquirrel.com/2022/08/where-does-it-all-go-part-3-recycling-beyond-single-stream/
Alice Waugh
Previous articles in this series looked at what happens to Lincoln’s trash and
single-stream recycling. The DPW recently published a guide that lists
everything accepted at the transfer station and where residents should put
things (see Section 6 in the regulations). But what then happens to all that
stuff?
Compost
DPW officials have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of compostables
they’ve been collecting at the transfer station, saving tons of material from
being incinerated along with the town’s trash.
Black Earth Compost began collecting compostables at the transfer station in
October 2019. Since the program began with four barrels (two more were added in
early 2021), residents have dropped off an average of 3.76 tons per month. The
company turns what it collects into compost and sells back to the public, as
well as to area farms (including Codman Community Farms and The Food Project)
at a reduced rate.
What can you compost? It’s not just food scraps (including meat and dairy
items) — it’s also napkins and paper towels, coffee filters, popsicle sticks.
Dishes, utensils, etc. that are specifically labeled as “compostable” are also
accepted.
Residents may also sign up for curbside pickup of compostables for $15.99 a
month (plus purchase of an animal-proof 13-gallon bin for $38 or a 4-gallon bin
for $16). The starter kit includes compostable liners for a small countertop
bin and the curbside bin. For those who have outdoor space for home composting,
the DPW sells backyard containers at its Lewis Street headquarters for $25 and
countertop containers for $10.
Textiles
Massachusetts residents may no longer throw away clothing and textiles with
their trash starting on November 1, 2022. Fortunately, the transfer station has
several receptacles for this material.
Bay State Textiles, a for-profit company that has a bin at the transfer station
and at the Lincoln School, collects clean and dry clothing and textiles in any
condition including shoes, purses, linens and towels, bedding, etc. Every
American throws out about 81 pounds of post- consumer textiles each year, but
only about 15% of the total is reclaimed with the other 85% going into the
municipal solid waste (trash), according to Paul Curry, the company’s president.
What happens to the stuff depends on what category it falls into: reusable,
repurposable, or recyclable. Reusable clothing is sold to firms in developing
countries that sell or give away the items to local residents. One of Bay
State’s customers in the Dominican Republic employs several hundred people to
sort and categorize the items by condition and quality as they’re prepared for
sale, Curry said.
Repurposed items come from textiles that are torn up, made into wipes, and sold
to factories and service industries all over the world, where they’re used for
cleaning equipment, staining furniture, cleaning cars, etc. Some items are also
targeted for fiber conversion — they’re shredded and recycled for use in carpet
padding, insulation, furniture stuffing, among other things. Techniques and
markets for turning cotton-rich and polyester-rich textiles into new fibers are
also advancing. Only about 4-5% of the materials it collects can’t be used for
anything, Curry said.
The nonprofit American Red Cross picks up clothing from one of the bins and
sells it through a vendor, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting its
Disaster Relief Fund. Donors are eligible for tax deductions.
Books
The transfer station has a mini-swap shed for books and media. The Friends of
the Lincoln Library (FOLL) has bins in the Donelan’s parking lot, Tracey’s
Service Station, and Lincoln Gas and Auto Service where books are picked up by
Bay State Book Co., which sells them online and returns a portion of the
proceeds to FOLL.
The book shed is a place where residents can leave and also take home books and
puzzles. Volunteers take items that have hung around too long to More Than
Words, a Waltham program that trains and employs at-risk youth in its business.
Mattresses and box springs
There is a container at the transfer station to leave mattresses, where they
are recycled by Raw Material Recovery. Massachusetts residents and businesses
discard about 600,000 mattresses and box springs annually — but once
disassembled, more than 75 percent of mattress components can be recycled,
according to the Massachusetts DEP.
Electronics
Items you can leave in the electronics area include computers, monitors,
printers, VCRs, stereo equipment, refrigerators, microwaves, etc. — “basically
anything with a cord,” said Susan Donaldson, the DPW’s office manager. They are
picked up by East Coast Electronics Recycling, which declined to comment on
what it does with the materials it receives.
Deposit Bottles, Batteries, Fluorescent Bulbs
The old swap shed is the place to drop off these items.
Rechargeable lithium batteries and fluorescent light bulbs (rod-shape and
U-shaped) are processed by Veolia to remove harmful metals and chemicals.
Ordinary alkaline batteries and button batteries no longer contain these
substances and can be thrown into the regular trash. Incandescent light bulbs
are also fine to put in the trash. Car batteries should be taken to a service
station for disposal.
Waverly Redemption Center in Waltham takes deposit bottles and pays the town a
portion of the 5-cent deposit on each bottle, which goes into the DPW’s
recycling budget.
Scrap metal
Waste Management picks up the metal collection bin near the transfer station
entrance and delivers it to Schnitzer Steel in Everett. Items accepted in that
bin include washers, dryers, metal pipes, fencing, cookware, outdoor grills,
outdoor furniture, etc.
Schnitzer shreds the items into fist-sized pieces and sorts it with magnets to
separate ferrous and nonferrous metals (steel vs. copper, aluminum, nickel,
etc.), explained Eric Potashner, the company’s chief public affairs and
communications officer. Most of the ferrous material from New England is
shipped to steel mills overseas, where it’s smelted for making into new steel
products such as rebar, sheet metal and car parts. The nonferrous metals are
sent to another facility in Georgia for further processing to remove nonmetal
components and then sold to domestic manufacturers to make into new products.
“Where does it all go?” Part 4: Beyond the transfer station
lincolnsquirrel.com/2022/08/where-does-it-all-go-part-4-beyond-the-transfer-station/
Alice Waugh
Not everything you’re done using can be recycled, of course, but here are some
destinations for recycling or repurposing items that the Lincoln transfer
station doesn’t handle, as well as additional places for things it does accept.
The DPW’s transfer station website also has links on the left-hand side of the
page with more information about where things can be recycled inside and
outside the transfer station.
Plastic bags and wraps
These should never be put in the single-stream recycling bin because they get
tangled in the sorting machinery. Tangled bags prevent proper sorting of other
materials and must be removed manually. You can recycle bags in the bins at
most grocery stores, including Donelan’s.
Recycled plastic bags and wraps (soft and flexible that you can stretch) are
sold to companies that make composite “lumber” for decks, benches, playground
sets, etc. The bags can also be reprocessed into small pellets, which can be
made into new bags, pallets, containers, crates, and pipe. Items in this
category that are recyclable include:
Single-use grocery bags
Product wrap around cases of water/soda bottles, bundles of paper towels,
covering toilet paper, enclosing diapers, etc.
Food bags from bread, potatoes, produce, etc. (must be clean and dry)
Plastic box liners (but not if they tear like paper)
Dry-cleaning and newspaper bags
Plastic mailing envelopes (must have paper labels removed)
Zip-top food storage bags
Air pillows that protect items in mailed cardboard boxes
Plastic that’s wrapped around new electronics and other consumer items
Bubble wrap
Any film packaging or bag that has the How2Recycle Label
All plastic should be clean and dry and free of paper labels.
Plastic bags that are not recyclable include (ironically enough) compostable
bags and those containing pre-washed salad mix, frozen food, and candy
bars/chips/snacks.
Construction debris and building materials
Check the DPW website for a short list of companies that will take construction
debris and recycle items not taken at our Transfer Station. Conigliaro
Industries in Framingham and C. Carney Environmental in Raynham also accepts
some types of demolition debris for recycling like roof shingles, concrete, and
big plastic items.
Hazardous waste
Latex paint cans (dried), button batteries, and alkaline batteries can be
tossed in the regular trash.
Oil-based paints, solvents, chemicals, medical waste, pesticides, and
explosives are some of the items that can be brought to the Minuteman Hazardous
Products Facility at 60 Hartwell Ave. in Lexington, which holds collection days
for several area towns several times a year. Residents must pre-register to be
able to drop off items on those days. Call the Board of Health at 781-259-2613.
Books and media
The transfer station has a mini-swap shed for books and other media as well as
bins around town where residents can drop books off for resale to benefit the
Friends of the Lincoln Library (see “Where does it all go?” Part 3: Recycling
beyond single-stream”). Another local beneficiary of donated books is More Than
Words, a Waltham program that trains and employs at-risk youth. They accept
donations of books, DVDs, video games and gently used clothing at their
headquarters at 56 Felton St. in Waltham. Not accepted: textbooks over 10 years
old, encyclopedias, VHS tapes, audio cassettes, or magazines. They will also do
pickup for donors with eight or more boxes of books and/or clothing.
Housewares
Household Goods in Acton accepts items to furnish homes for those who were
recently homeless, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, low income,
immigrants, victims of disaster, or are coping with illness or disability.
Items should be in good condition including:
Dressers, tables, chairs, mattresses and bed frames
Dishes, flatware, and kitchen items
Sheets, towels, and other bed linens
Among the items they don’t accept: toys, sports equipment, office furniture,
etc. Donations can be dropped off at their headquarters at 530 Main St. in
Acton (978-635-1710) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m.–noon.
Clothing
In addition to the Red Cross and Bay State Textiles bins at the transfer
station, residents can drop off donated clothing and shoes in the nonprofit
Planet Aid bin at Tracey’s Service Station on Bedford Road and Route 2, Red
Cross at the Mall, and at the school. Other options:
Dress for Success (Boston) Global Thrift (Waltham)
On the Rise (Cambridge)
Used stuffed animals and toys
Many organizations only accept new stuffed animals , but Stuffed Animals for
Emergencies, Donation Town, Ronald McDonald House, homeless shelters, the
Salvation Army, Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, and some hospitals will accept
used items that adhere to cleanliness guidelines that vary from you to group.
For more information, click here or here. They can also be put in the textile
recycling bins.
Yard waste
Brush, leaves, grass clippings, Christmas trees, etc., can be brought to the
DPW yard at 30 Lewis St. during normal business hours and on the first Saturday
of each month between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Brush and yard waste is limited
to material generated by normal residential activity; waste from larger-scale
land clearing, etc., is not accepted. Use of the DPW yard is limited to
residents with a transfer station sticker.
The DPW yard also offers some materials back to the community for free,
including compost, wood chips, and firewood at the DPW (call 781-259-8999 to
check on availability). The department also has a small sand shed where
residents can shovel a sand/salt mixture into buckets to take home to spread on
outdoor walks and steps.
Tires
Tires are not accepted as either trash or recycling and should not appear at
the transfer station at all. Old tires are usually replaced at a commercial
garage or repair shop, which charges the customer a small fee to dispose of
them. If you have tires at home that you need to get rid of, call Doherty’s or
another service station.
“Where does it all go?” Part 5: The 5 R’s, and some numbers
lincolnsquirrel.com/2022/08/where-does-it-all-go-part-5-the-5-rs-and-some-numbers/
Alice Waugh
Editor’s note: A huge thank-you to Susan Donaldson, DPW office manager, for her
prompt and helpful answers and explanations as the Lincoln Squirrel was
researching and writing these articles.
Lincoln’s recycling rate (the proportion of recyclables diverted from the
trash) since 2012 has averaged about 40%, which is slightly better than the
statewide average of 33% but well below the national leaders, San Francisco and
Los Angeles, which divert about 80 percent of their waste from landfills. So
there’s definitely room for improvement in both how much Lincolnites recycle,
and how correctly they recycle by putting items in the correct bin at the
transfer station.
One method that some towns are using to encourage more recycling is “pay as you
throw” (PAYT), where residents pay for trash disposal per unit of waste
discarded rather than solely through a fixed townwide fee or tax. “It’s
equivalent to putting a price tag on each container of trash that’s placed at
the curb or taken to the landfill or transfer station for disposal,” notes a
DEP implementation guide for starting PAYT programs. As of 2021, more than 150
cities and towns in Massachusetts had some type of PAYT program in place.
The Holy Grail of recycling and trash management is “zero waste,” where almost
nothing goes in the trash and everything we use is subject to the five R’s:
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot. “Refuse” at the top of the pyramid
means the first step is to say no to disposable single-use plastic, coffee
cups, utensils, straws, shopping bags, food packaging, and anything else you
could replace with a reusable or compostable option.
Meanwhile, at the transfer station, it’s often hard to know whether something
is recyclable or not, so the DPW encourages residents to ask a staff member
where things should go rather than just guess or “wishcycle.” “It makes you
have to think,” noted Susan Donaldson, DPW office manager.
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