The stakeholders most affected by the ever-tightening requirements of Vermont鈥檚 universal recycling law are grappling with everything from maggot-ridden transfer stations to worries about the spread of invasive species, but state regulators say the bottom line is that more consumers are recycling, and the amount of trash flowing into Vermont鈥檚 landfills is, at long last, shrinking.
鈥淲hen we compared the amount of municipal solid waste coming from residences and businesses from 2014 to 2015, we had a 5 percent reduction,鈥� said Cathy Jamieson, who is overseeing the implementation of the new law on behalf of Vermont鈥檚 Agency of Natural Resources.
Jamieson said she expects those numbers to be even better for 2016, because during the first half of 2015, a ban against putting recyclables such as glass, certain plastics and cardboard into the landfill had not yet gone into effect. July 2015 was also the point in time when municipalities were required to start charging users based on the volume of their non-recyclable trash, giving individuals and businesses a financial incentive to divert materials from the waste stream.
Though enforcement against consumers has consisted largely of signage and gentle reminders, the numbers seem to indicate that the law has nudged the behavior of many Vermonters into greener pastures.
In all, the state disposed of 390,552 tons of trash in 2015, down from 411,200 tons in 2014. On a macro level, the state has also seen other positive signs during the same period 鈥� the weight of recycled materials climbed from 202,272 tons in 2014 to what preliminary figures suggest will be about 208,745 tons, an increase of more than 3 percent.
Meanwhile, food donations, mostly from food sellers who benefit by diverting organic materials from their waste streams, have soared, by about 27 percent in 2015 and another 40 percent so far in 2016, according to a joint statement issued last week by the Vermont Foodbank and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Jamieson said the state doesn鈥檛 have a breakdown of trash rates by town or by region, because it uses reporting figures from a variety of sources that include haulers and transfer stations, many of which have overlapping service areas that have to be adjusted to ensure that waste isn鈥檛 double-counted. In Hartford, the numbers seemed to be roughly in line with state figures.
At Hartford鈥檚 transfer station, Solid Waste Supervisor Bob Vahey provided figures from the first year the recyclable materials ban was in effect, a 12-month period that ended in July. During that time, trash decreased by 5 percent, and recycling increased by 4.5 percent as compared to the previous 12-month period.
But other Upper Valley waste districts saw different trends. 鈥淩ecycling volumes are up,鈥� Tom Kennedy said on Wednesday. 鈥淎nd trash is also up.鈥�
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