BWRC Minutes July 12 2018Beverly Waste Reduction Committee
Meeting Minutes —July 12, 2018
Beverly Waste Reduction Committee
MINUTES: Monthly meeting, Thursday, July 12, 2018
6:00 PM, Beverly City Hall, Conference Room B
CALL TO ORDER: 6:01 pm
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair - Susan Higgins, Toni Musante, Joyce Herman,
Sandy Burgess
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Rebecca Dupont -Coutu (excused), Nancy Dillon
(excused)
INVITED PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS: Ben Hacker
APPROVAL OF MINUTES — approval of the minutes of the June 2018 meeting was tabled to
the next meeting to allow for the minutes to be distributed for review.
Treasurer's Report
Higgins reported that she met with Burgess to transition treasurer responsibilities. Higgins and
Burgess will work together to outline duties of the Treasurer.
Burgess reported that the balance of the account is $29,196.99. Payments were issued as
previously approved for a Tidal Shift invoice and for a donation to the Beverly Football Boosters
for the football team's assistance with the electronics recycling event.
Invited Guest — Recycling Discussion
Higgins introduced Ben Hacker, a local college student with an interest in our Committee's
activities and a recycling advocate. He is active on Facebook, and frequently answers questions
asked by the community about recycling and waste management activities. The group had a long
discussion about recycling activities, suggestions for improving education and enforcement
(including improved stickering), the City of Lynn's recent activities to reduce contamination in
recycling containers, the possibility of using DEP's Recycling IQ Kit, the City of Beverly's
Recycling Dividend Program grant application, the potential for enforcing mandatory recycling
by commercial establishments and multi - family housing, and the possibility of coordinating a
tour of JRM's recycling facility. Herman agreed to talk to Kerin Cotter about scheduling a tour
in the Fall. The Committee thanked Ben Hacker for his contributions to an interesting and
informative discussion and agreed to continue to work with him to keep the conversation alive.
There was limited discussion about whether Ben could participate more with our Committee on a
remote basis while he is away at school.
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Beverly Waste Reduction Committee
Meeting Minutes —July 12, 2018
Beverly Homecoming 2018 — Lobster Fest
Higgins provided an update on activities to coordinate waste reduction, recycling and
composting at Lobster Fest, scheduled for August 1, 2018. The Committee talked about what
was done last year and suggestions for this year and discussed signing up volunteers to cover the
full event. There was a discussion about supplies that may be needed, such as gloves, paper
towels, and perhaps printing of informational material to display and distribute to participants.
Burgess moved to appropriate up to $100 for Higgins to purchase waste management supplies
for Lobster Fest. Herman seconded the motion. Motion carried (4 -0).
Recycling at Arts Fest and Block Parties
Higgins reported that she has been continuing to talk to Main Streets and the City about how to
accomplish recycling at the Block Parties. The City has agreed to take the recyclables. DPW
has to set up trucks to block the roads. If we bring the bags to one of the trucks at the end of the
event, the City will deliver them to recycling. We will recycle only cups. In order for this to
work, we will need an adequate number of volunteers. There was also a discussion about
whether our five clear stream containers will be adequate, or if we should borrow more from
Change is Simple. Higgins reported that she will distribute a request for volunteers.
Status of Curbside Composting Program
Higgins reported that we are still waiting for a quote from ORBIS for curbside bins and guidance
from City Officials regarding their preference for how to move forward. We have about 20
curbside bins remaining. The vote regarding purchasing carts was tabled to a future meeting.
Status of Plastic Bag Ordinance
The vote regarding funding for reusable bags was tabled to a future meeting, as there is no new
information to report. Herman will participate in City implementation meetings when they
begin.
Potential for Sidewalk Buttlers
This discussion was tabled to a future meeting.
Other Business and Updates
No further business was discussed.
Adjournment
There being no further discussion this evening, the meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
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