Recycle This, Trash That: Why We Need to Do It

Back in the early days of “modern” recycling, when Earth Day was something that only granola-crunching, tree-hugger types celebrated, a movement to help save the environment by recycling newspapers, glass, and aluminum began. Although some form of recycling had been practiced for decades (some of the most memorable recycling campaigns were spawned out of the patriotism associated with World War II) and even in past centuries, it was usually prompted by shortages or other economic conditions, rather than a concern for the world’s natural resources.

We’ve come a long way since the first Earth Day was celebrated in April 1970.

Prior to the 1970s, decades of industrial expansion had continued with limited controls on damage to air, water, and land, or concern about depletion of natural resources. And although the Environmental Protection Agency now regulates federal policy, mandates are set on a state level.

Recycling has become a mainstream practice in which most people and organizations readily participate, but it’s not only a nice thing to do – it’s the law.

Many municipalities, like West Hartford, contract with a hauler to pick up residential and municipal waste, and Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) oversees the state’s recycling regulations, including a growing list of items that are mandated for recycling.

PA 10-87, which was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly in June 2010, requires that municipal contracts for trash collection must also include recycling collection. Trash haulers are also required to provide recycling services, through use of separate receptacles (they aren’t going to sort it once it’s picked up), to businesses and apartment buildings. If an event venue has a trash barrel, it should also have a separate receptacle for recycling.

And while state-wide regulations are still relatively new, and non-compliance is more often addressed through education rather than fines, everyone needs to know that mandated recycling applies not only to homes but also to schools, businesses, multi-family residences, and even events.

If you’ve been keeping up with West Hartford’s “Recycle This, Trash That” campaign, you’ve learned that the town has a fairly extensive list of materials – beyond what is mandated by the state – that can go into the blue recycling barrel (see the Public Works tab on the town’s website, www.westhartford.org, for more details). West Hartford also offers curbside yard waste collection and hosts hazardous waste disposal events on a regular basis.

Here is the list of Connecticut’s mandated items (source: CT DEEP website) that can berecycled in your blue barrel. Please note that West Hartford's list of acceptable materials includes plastics coded #1 through #7 as well as many other items in addition to state requirements:

• Glass & Metal Food & Beverage Containers
• Plastic Containers (PET or PETE #1)
• Plastic Containers (HDPE #2)
• Corrugated Cardboard
• Boxboard
• Newspaper
• Magazines
• White & Colored Office Paper (residences and businesses)

The following are also mandated items for recycling in Connecticut, but CANNOT go into the blue barrel. However, these items are also banned from disposal in the trash and must be disposed of through other means:

• Scrap Metal, including appliances
• Ni-Cd Rechargeable Batteries (from consumer products)
• Waste Oil (crankcase oil from internal combustion engines)
• Leaves (must be composted)
• Lead Acid Battery or Motor Vehicle Batteries
• Grass Clippings (should be left on the lawn or, if necessary, composted )
• Commercially Generated Source Separated Organic Materials (Only applies to those businesses compelled to do so per CGS Section 22a-226e)
• Items covered through product stewardship programs, including paint, mattresses, electronics, and mercury thermometers

Any questions? Email them to Dave Gabriele at whrecycles@westhartford.org.

Recycle This, Trash That, is a community outreach program for the Town of West Hartford funded by Covanta Industries, the town’s trash-to-energy facility. Ronni Newton is contracted as the recycling campaign editor for the Public Works Department in the Town of West Hartford.