Town officials hope they can persuade residents to break a long-time – and costly – habit.
While Milford has had the convenience of single sort recycling for several years now, the number of people using it is downright abysmal. Recent data suggests just 8 percent of residents are recycling according to Town Manager Dawn Adams.
“We sent out a flyer this summer to every address on file in our mailing list, explaining what could and couldn’t be recycled,” said Adams. “We saw an uptick for one month to about 10 percent, but then it went right back down again the next month.”
The lack of effort to recycle costs the town – and hence, its taxpayers – money. Adams said to date that residents have recycled 61 tons of trash; another 724 tons have been hauled off as garbage. Each ton of trash costs Milford $77 for disposal.
In the past, town officials have talked about pay as you throw trash, where residents would get billed for garbage, but they have not and still don’t want to go that route said Adams. But if residents don’t recycle more – combined with the potential doubling of fees when PERC’s current contract expires in 2018 – the town might not have any choice.
“It’s nothing we want to do, but we might have to in the future. Recycling more could only help,” said Adams.
Residents are reminded that recycling is picked up on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. If anybody needs a flyer that indicates what they can and can not recycle, they may get it at the town office.