North Andover's 'Simple Recycling' A Success

The following is a release from the Town Manager:

Simple Recycling, a leading textiles recycler, announced today that curbside textiles recycling in North Andover is off to a strong start. North Andover was the first community in Massachusetts to execute an agreement to offer free curbside textile recycling. “The Town of North Andover is on the leading edge when it comes to recycling,” said Adam Winfield, President of Simple Recycling. “My company serves more than 3 million people every week, and we’re excited to see how well the residents of North Andover are really doing.”

The Town of North Andover began offering curbside textiles recycling to residents during the week of May 15 th. The service is provided at no cost to the Town or to residents. To participate, residents simply place clean, dry textiles and small home goods in a pink Simple Recycling bag. The bags are provided to residents for free.

Residents then place their bags three feet from their recycling bin on their recycling day, and Simple will collect and recycle the material.

“We thought this program was an excellent way to add a new service for residents, at no cost to anyone,” said Town Manager Andrew Maylor. “Every sweater or bedspread that ends up being recycled will save us money on trash disposal, while earning the Town $20 per ton in new revenue.”

Preliminary estimates indicated that residents of North Andover would recycle about 10 pounds of material per household per year. At current rates, however, the average North Andover household is projected to generate nearly 16 pounds of recyclable items per year. “North Andover is in the top five communities nationwide in terms of curbside textiles recycling,” said Winfield. “It’s very impressive how quickly residents have embraced the program.”

According to the EPA, approximately 6% of all trash nationwide is used clothing and other textiles. Only 15% of this material is collected and recycled via drop boxes today, and the rest is disposed of in the trash. This makes reusable and recyclable material into trash when they actually have real value for people and for our economy.

Through the increased convenience of curbside collection, North Andover is working to divert more of this material from disposal, saving taxpayer money while ensuring used clothes are reused, recycled or otherwise have a beneficial use in society.

Residents can fill the pink textiles recycling bags with clean, dry clothing, shoes, bedding, drapes, plates and other home goods and place them at the curb, near their recycling, on their recycling day. Employees of Simple Recycling will collect these bags and then sort the material for reuse, repair or recycling.

Simple Recycling works in cooperation with WasteZero, the nation’s leading waste reduction company. WasteZero works with more than 100 cities and towns in Massachusetts to help them increase recycling and reduce solid waste. The Town, Simple Recycling and WasteZero encourage residents to recycle all textiles –whether curbside, at drop boxes, or directly at school, church or charity drop-offs. For more information, please visit www.simplerecycling.com or www.wastezero.com.

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