FARMINGTON — After 23 years of serving municipalities in Greater Franklin County, Sandy River Recycling Association will cease operations June 30.

The association’s board of directors unanimously voted Jan. 16 to dissolve, Town Manager Richard Davis told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday.

“We’re finished but in a way we’re not,” Jo Josephson, former board president, said Thursday.

The board decided based on “the increased cost of operations, increasing poor fiscal outlook and other lower-cost options for the transport and processing of its members’ recyclable materials,” according to the association’s 2013 report.

Formed in 1990, the association is owned by its member towns and governed by their representatives. There are 21 municipalities in the association, which has its facility in Farmington.

Last December, Farmington left the association.

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Arrangements with private contractor Alan Archibald of Archie’s Inc. of Mexico have been made, Davis told the board. The contractor started that work Thursday.

Association directors will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at Forster Memorial Building in Strong to fine-tune details of the dissolution, Josephson said.

The board decided to keep its composting license, which could potentially be available for another business, she said. Along with the composting pad, there is a large building, trucks, balers and scales to dispose of, she said.

The association will provide service until June 30, giving towns time to make the transition, she said. Some have already begun talking with private recycling contractors.  

As of Jan. 16, member towns will share in the remaining assets after expenses, Davis told the board. 

Any payments made for the quarter will be reimbursed if the town leaves before June, Josephson said.

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Collection of plastics with Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 stops immediately, she said.

Manager Ron Slater has overseen collection, processing and marketing of recyclable wastes from each town, Josephson said. He and two other employees will be out of work.

“We were pioneers, basically introducing everyone to recycling,” Josephson said. “We did so in the hope that after 23 years the practice of sort-based recycling was so embedded in the daily habits of its members that recycling would continue … because recycling is the right thing to do.”

abryant@sunjournal.com


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