Community Corner
Medfield Residents Recycling Responsibly
Medfield held special collection days at the Town Garage earlier this month so residents could dispose of CRTs, used motor oil, computers and TVs responsibly.
Earlier this month, Medfield hosted a special collection day to collect unwanted CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) and used motor oil; and another day to collect hazardous chemicals, pesticides, motor oil and oil-based paint.
“We probably collected 25,000 CRTs and computers,” said Kenneth Feeney, Medfield’s Superintendent of the Department of Public Works, noting the program has been in existence nearly 10 years. Residents are charged $5 per CRT for disposal.
Feeney said they also collected some unwanted flat screen televisions even though they did not contain CRTs.
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“It’s worth it to us to get them out of the waste stream,” said Feeney, noting the lead tubes are what makes them “waste ban” items.
According to www.wisegeek.com, Cathode Ray Tubes are the technology used inside an analog computer monitor or television set. A CRT monitor or TV is readily recognizable by its bulky form. LCD monitors and plasma television sets, or flat panel displays, use newer digital technologies.
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CRTs are collected at the town garage in April and October.
“When we first started, we were collecting 100,000 a year, about five years ago we collected about 75,000, and now we collect about 50,000 a year,” said Feeney, attributing the decreasing numbers to the “flat screen era.”
The CRTs are hauled away by a recycling company.
But it may be the single day-to-day recycling of household waste that is making the biggest impact at the Transfer Station where single-stream recycling is up and the amount of household trash is down.
“Single-stream recycling has reduced the amount of trash we have going out probably by about 13 tons a month,” said Jean Ouellette, manager of the Transfer Station. “Each trailer is about 13 tons and it costs $100 a ton to incinerate it.”
Ouellette noted that the town saves money on incineration fees and then gets paid for its recycling items.
“Now people throw more cardboard and more bottles and cans, into the single-stream recycling because it’s easier to do; they try to do the right thing,” he said. “Before, when they were sorting into bins, it was more work and more effort and more difficult to do.”
The recycling is collected by Costello Industries which then separates the items by hand, compacts them, and sends them overseas.
