Recycling Made Easy in Westwood

There's no need to worry about sorting your recyclables or obtaining a special bin. Paper, cardboard, bottles and cans can now be mixed together for recycling, thanks to new sorting equipment at Waste Management Recycle America in Avon. To make it easier to bring recyclables to the curb, Westwood residents may convert a trash barrel to a recycling container with a FREE Recycle sticker. Stickers are available at Town Hall, the DPW on Carby St., the Senior Center, and both libraries, courtesy of Waste Management.

Materials collected for recycling are still the same. Please do not place plastic bags, Styrofoam, other non-container plastics or food contaminated paper products in the recycle bin. Do include all clean paper, cardboard, metal cans and lids, glass bottles and jars, and rigid plastic containers 1 gallon or less. Those are the only materials that can be sorted and sold to make new products. Paper clips, staples, window envelopes and bottle caps are ok. Other contaminants may degrade the whole load or damage the sorting equipment.

Recycling is not just a good idea, it saves Westwood money. Trash costs over $70/ton to dispose of at the Wheelabrator waste to energy facility in Millbury. Recycling is processed at no additional cost to the town. (If every resident reduced their weekly trash weight by 10 pounds, it would save the town thousands of dollars per week.) Composting non-meat kitchen scraps in a backyard bin is another great way to make better use of your waste.

For more information go to http://westwoodeac.com/WMRF2.aspx, or http://townhall.westwood.ma.us/index.cfm?pid=10205

(Thanks to Westwood Environmental Action Committee for this information)