BWRC Approved Minutes March 7 2019Beverly Waste Reduction Committee
Meeting Minutes — March 7, 2019
Beverly Waste Reduction Committee
MINUTES: Monthly Meeting, Thursday, March 7, 2019
6:00 PM, Beverly City Hall, Conference Room A
CALL TO ORDER: 6:03 pm
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Higgins (Chair), Sandy Burgess, Nancy Dillon,
Joyce Herman, Toni Musante, Rebecca Dupont - Coutu, John Swain
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: None
INVITED PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS: Kevin Harutunian
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the January 2019 meeting were presented for approval.
Dillon moved to approve the minutes and Herman seconded the motion. The motion carried (5 -0
with Dupont - Coutu abstaining and Swain arriving just after the vote was taken).
Treasurer's Report
Burgess reported that the account balance is $23,778.88 (no change since last month).
Coordination for Brunch and Learn
Herman and Swain have volunteered to attend the Brunch and Learn at the Senior Center on
March 12, 2019, hosted by Meagan Riche (a community engagement fellow with the Beverly
Council on Aging). This event is being organized as an educational workshop to discuss
environmental issues that are of interest to seniors and to explore ways to empower them to be
involved with these issues in the community. Herman and Swain will represent the Committee,
talk about what we do, provide a table -top display with recycling educational information, and
provide other handouts to Meagan for distribution in welcoming packets. Dillon suggested also
providing JRM stickers that we can get from Engineering, and Herman suggested bringing a few
recycling bins for display and /or sale. Swain volunteered to drop off the handouts to Meagan in
advance of the workshop. Our Committee's participation in this event is a recognized activity in
the upcoming application for RDP grant funding (information table at community event).
Spring 2019 Electronics Collection
Higgins provided an update on planning for electronics collection. The company (Data
Recycling of New England), date (May 4, 2019), location (BHS rear drive) and football team
support (Coach Morency and his team) are all confirmed. Pricing is the same as last year with
the exception that TVs are now priced based on 24" size measured on the diagonal (previously
27 "). Higgins circulated last year's flyer and the Committee discussed suggested changes.
Maria Arcieri (previously with Engineering, now with the Fire Department) prepared the flyer
last year and offered to make changes. Higgins will send the suggested edits to Maria and will
circulate another draft of the flyer. Work remaining includes developing a volunteer schedule
and reviewing the data tracking form used in past years. Dupont - Coutu made a motion to keep
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Beverly Waste Reduction Committee
Meeting Minutes — March 7, 2019
pricing the same as last year, and to accept Maria Arcieri's offer to update the flyer. Dillon
seconded the motion. The motion carried (7 -0).
Discussion of Potential Styrofoam Collection Event
Higgins and Hermon provided an update on Hamilton's Styrofoam collection event. The
materials were collected and brought to Newburyport by volunteers with a $200 payment made
to Newburyport to cover costs. Hamilton reported that it was a difficult approach (logistically),
requiring short-term storage of materials in a private garage and numerous trips in a pickup truck
to deliver the materials. They do not recommend this approach.
Higgins asked the Committee to consider if we want to host an event in Beverly, and if so, when
and where it should be held and how we should pay for it. Gold Circuit quoted $400 to directly
pick up materials. For this cost, we will need to purchase large clear bags (approximately $150
for a box) to collect the material and will be required to store the bagged Styrofoam until Gold
Circuit can pick it up. Alternately, Gold Circuit will provide full service (truck, boxes, bags, and
one employee) for a 3 -hour Saturday event for $600 (no storage required).
The Committee discussed the pros and cons of having a Styrofoam collection event. Arguably, it
is not cost - effective. However, it is environmentally preferable, and many people have been
asking if we can host an event. There was a discussion regarding whether the money would be
better spent on other activities (e.g., expanding composting), and whether the RDP grant funds
could be used for this purpose.
Kevin Harutunian advised that Hamilton had about 78 households participating in their event. If
we had similar performance at a cost of $600, it would be equivalent to about $7 or $8 per
participant to cover the cost. He suggested that this cost could possibly come out of RDP grant
funding, but that the nature of the event might make it amenable to soliciting a community
sponsor. RDP grant funds could be a safety net if we are unable to secure a sponsor.
There was follow -on discussion about whether we could make this a more regular event, perhaps
in collaboration with other communities in our region. Musante suggested that if we could
identify a location to store the material, we could perhaps provide more routine collection. If
residents know this is an option, they are more likely to save and recycle their Styrofoam rather
than throwing it out.
For the short-term, we discussed pursuing a single event. Gold Circuit is not available on May
4th (electronics collection), and April 20 (household hazardous waste collection) is too soon to
effectively coordinate and advertise. Higgins reported that she reached out to the Council on
Aging about co- hosting with their paper shredding event on June 1st but they were concerned
about traffic impacts associated with two simultaneous events in their parking lot.
The Committee generally agreed we should plan an event for the Fall (early November) and seek
a community sponsor. Stop and Shop on Elliott Street was identified as a potential sponsor,
particularly because their parking lot provides a highly- visible location to host the event. Other
potential sponsors were also identified, including Shaws, Staples and Glen Urquhart School.
Kevin suggested that we could also consider City properties, including perhaps the Middle
School. Higgins agreed to coordinate with the City about soliciting a sponsor.
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Discussion of BevCam Advertising
The Committee discussed the benefits of pursuing advertising and /or public service
announcements (PSA) on BevCam. This action will also benefit the City's RDP grant
application. Swain noted that he recently saw an old PSA on BevCam that appeared outdated
and with misinformation. Musante is on the Board of BevCam. She agreed to reach out to the
staff at BevCam regarding logistics to utilize this media for disseminating new information. The
Committee agreed to continue this discussion at our next meeting.
Old Business and Other Updates
Mayor's Office Activities —Kevin Harutunian thanked the Committee for funding the
purchase of reusable bags and for providing volunteers to distribute bags at the four
major grocery stores in Beverly on February 2, 2019. The City was very appreciative of
the collaborative efforts of the stores and the volunteers, which resulted in a successful
event. Approximately 4,000 bags were distributed on that day, including additional bags
purchased by the City. Higgins reported that volunteers included committee members,
City staff, boy scouts, and other community members. The City may plan a second
distribution event (possibly Earth Day weekend) and bags will be made available at other
community events during the Spring and Summer. Bags are also available to the public
at City Hall.
Harutunian outlined City efforts to educate businesses and enforce the plastic bag ban.
He advised that the Health Department is conducting spot compliance checks. He
indicated there will always be a need to educate new businesses, and this will generally
be done through the City's economic development planner as well as organizations such
as Main Streets and the Chamber of Commerce as a "checklist" item in their routine
discussions with new businesses. In addition, the City is printing posters (with student art
work) to further promote the initiative. Higgins advised that our Committee remains
available to assist with education and outreach as appropriate.
There was a discussion about the status of the City's two - barrel limitation, including
Committee observations that residents and JRM may not be following the requirements.
Harutunian acknowledged our recommendation to engage an enforcement officer. In the
short term, he advised that he has an intern starting later this month that will be driving
the truck routes and collecting data on barrel set -out, recycling, stickering, etc. In
addition, Engineering is working on an educational mailer (postcard) to send to all
residents. There was discussion about the City's management of waste collection on
certain private roadways, which has reportedly been one of the more challenging aspects
of the two - barrel limitation.
Curbside Composting Update — Higgins provided an update on the food waste curbside
composting program. We are continuing to distribute bins to new customers on a pick -up
basis. We are averaging a steady 10 -11 new customers per month. We do not have
ongoing data about dropouts, so we are required to obtain exact participant counts from
Black Earth. The current approach for distributing bins is somewhat time consuming on
our part but provides a beneficial opportunity to connect with new participants.
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Meeting Minutes — March 7, 2019
Higgins provided an update on program statistics for 2018. The official program count
was 1,006 participants as of January 3, 2019. The average number of paid participants in
2018 was 993 with a weekly average of 76% setting out a bin (758 set outs per week).
The average amount of food waste in each bin is about 10.7 pounds per bin per week
(measured only on the bins set out) and is about 8.1 pounds per household measured on
all paid participants. In total, we diverted about 214 tons of food waste from disposal
saving on the order of $14,000 in tipping fees. Higgins reported that the majority of new
customers have stated that they learned of the program from family or friends, or because
they see the bins or the Black Earth truck in their neighborhood. Higgins agreed to write
a letter to the editor summarizing and promoting the program.
Harutunian reported that the Mayor's Office is interested in expanding the composting
program, although there are challenges with going to a City -wide program (particularly
cost). He noted that Manchester's town -wide program is only at 30% participation. The
Mayor's Office is looking into a variety of options that may be available, and recently
met with Black Earth to discuss possibilities and logistics. One area of interest is
preventing the generation of food waste and ensuring edible food is redirected to feed
people. Another area of interest is exploring opportunities to incentivize the business
community and the public schools to pursue successful composting programs.
Adjournment
There being no further discussion this evening, the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm.
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