City Launches 'Concord Recycles: One Bin – No Bags' Campaign

CONCORD, NH — Plastic film, such as plastic bags, is the leading source of recycling contamination and is not recyclable through curbside collection in Concord. Although plastic bags can be recycled, they require a designated collection system and specific processing equipment, and therefore cannot be included in a single stream recycling program. Plastic bags need to be kept out of the recycling stream and instead should be recycled at local retailers. Plastic bags should not be placed in with recyclable materials, and recyclables should not be placed inside of plastic bags.

Zero-Sort® single-stream recycling in Concord has made recycling quick and easy for residents without the need to sort materials. Instead, Casella Waste Systems, the City’s solid waste contractor, sorts materials at their recycling facilities to be marketed and sold for manufacturing into new products. However, these recycling facilities face serious challenges with contaminants, such as plastic film, clogging equipment and slowing down processing. Often times the plastic film can also get mixed in and contaminate other materials.

Due to this increased contamination at sorting facilities, a lower tolerance for contaminants has been established in the recycling industry as a whole. “This is an issue that has been worsening, which results in a decreased value of recyclables,” states David Allen, Division Manager for Casella Waste Systems. “This is causing a decline in the recycling market because buyers only want to purchase the highest quality of raw materials, making it difficult to market.”

Trash collectors in the entire industry are working harder to keep recycling loads contamination-free by proactively not collecting unacceptable materials. “Concord residents may notice decreased leniency from collectors,” states Adam Clark, Solid Waste Manager for the City of Concord. “It is best for residents to be proactive. Check recyclables and remove any items that are not accepted curbside, such as plastic bags.” Any recycling bins that contain unacceptable items will be rejected at the curb and will be marked with a non-compliance sticker alerting the resident of unacceptable items.

The City of Concord and Casella Waste Systems are launching the campaign “Concord Recycles: One Bin – No Bags” to engage the community on this initiative. The campaign logo communicates that Concord utilizes Zero-Sort® single-stream recycling that does not require multiple bins for recycling sorting. Instead, all recycling materials can be placed freely in the same bin. At the same time, the logo stresses to not use bags to contain recyclables and to not place plastic bags in with recycling. This new logo will likely appear on future marketing materials to further promote that plastic bags are not for use with curbside recycling.

The City of Concord is implementing another initiative to reduce recycling contamination by improving identification of recycling dumpster containers with blue lids. Blue is the most commonly used color for public recycling containers and it will help designate the proper bins to dispose of waste and recycle materials. This change will be reflected for downtown and multi-family dumpsters.

Compliance to avoid contamination is necessary to maintain sustainable recycling markets and cooperation is appreciated by the City of Concord. Find more information about recycling and acceptable items at www.concordnh.gov/recycling.