 I'm James Milan. Welcome to this edition of Talk of the Town. And, you know, on this series every once in a while I get a peculiar kind of pleasure and that's the case today because I am talking to our town's recycling coordinator today and she also happens to be my wife. So Charlotte Milan, town recycling coordinator, first of all, thank you Charlotte for joining us today. Glad to be here. We appreciate it. We wanted to get a sense of what's been going on with our recycling program from your perspective through the pandemic and then talk about some specific attributes in our recycling services and then we'll ask you about some shorter or longer term plans near the end of the conversation. So that's the roadmap and if we can get started by just talking, obviously front and center for everybody are things that you've had to change or that we have had to change because of the pandemic. So let's start there. Okay. Well, first of all, as an essential service, your waste at trash recycling and yard waste service at home has not been interrupted at all. When we're very pleased about that, some other communities in Massachusetts had to delay pickup at the beginning of the virus in the spring of yard waste. We haven't had any setbacks at all. So we're really happy about that. But unfortunately, with the town office is closed, that means that Public Works customer service is also closed. And that's tough because we really like seeing the public come in, be able to offer information in person and give people various pieces of equipment. We sell compost bins, for example. So we've had to figure out ways around the fact that our offices are not open, but we're available through email and on the phone as we normally would be. I know that people have received various pieces of information in the mail from the Department of Public Works related to recycling services in recent months. I think part of that, or they are all part of a program recycling ID. Can you... Recycling IQ, excuse me. Can you just explain what that is and kind of describe the program for us? Sure. Well, recycling IQ stands for Recycling Improved Quality. And it is a mass Department of Environmental Protection Outreach and Education program that goes along with trying to make recycling simpler and easier to understand across the Commonwealth. And we're very excited to be running this program. Dozens of communities across the Commonwealth have already done this program. So we've learned a lot from whoever went before us. And we're fortunate to have a good sum of money to be able to hire recycling inspectors. And those folks have been coming to the curb. We are looking at over 4,000 households on a weekly basis. And they're literally going through your recycling and checking out what mistakes might be being made at the curb. And in some ways, because of the virus, because of COVID, people are home more. They're doing a lot of their recycling at home, as opposed to the office or at school. And so we're seeing really good examples of all different kinds of mistakes that people make. It's very understandable. And we're really trying to give very specific feedback. This is a oops tag. And this is what the inspectors are carrying with them to be able to make a note down here if they want to check off a particular mistake that these are the most common mistakes that people make. And I have to say, another aspect of the virus is that people are having taking eating more takeout. And so we're having to address a lot of takeout containers as to whether they're recycling or trash. So that's another COVID result. I'm curious, is this part of a kind of uniformization that's happening in communities around the state? Everybody again, you were saying that you you're trying to that part of the goal here is to simplify things to make things easier for everybody to understand and therefore comply with. Is this basically are we now kind of conforming to state requirements in a way that we were just kind of operating as as a single community before? The Commonwealth Mass Department of Environmental Protection got together actually with all of the sorting facilities that sort of the recyclables in Massachusetts, and they developed a program called Recycle Smart MA. And this postcard that we sent residents includes the graphics of that program. And it comes along with a search tool that we have on the town's website. And also you can go to recyclesmartma.org and use the search tool there. And this is very much part of a concerted effort on the part of the state to make recycling simpler to understand. So many communities are signing on to this program. We signed on about a year and a half ago, and it did create some new parameters about our recycling. But we didn't work really, really hard to get those new rules out to everybody. We tried to get out the most important changes. And then other ones followed later. And it's a lot of information to take in. And so we really the simplest way to think about it is that there are really only four categories of materials that can be recycled. And everything else probably can't be recycled. And that's a hard pill for people to swallow because before this we've often encouraged people to recycle as much as possible. And that has led to some contamination in our recycling that we now need to correct. From what I understand, the inspectors that you were referring to before that are part of the recycling IQ program are still in the process of gathering information and giving people feedback on mistakes that they're making, as you were saying. But I'm curious whether so far, if you can speak to this at all, whether what you're finding the data that these guys are uncovering in this way is kind of conforms to what you already understood about the most common kinds of mistakes that people have been making in Arlington, the prevalence of that kind of thing, et cetera, or whether there have been surprises because you're now actually going through in a very detailed way and looking at what people are doing with their recycling. Yes, well, we are tracking how many people are putting plastic bags and soft plastic in their recycling, how many people are putting other kinds of material that we don't want to see in the recycling. But generally, I have to say, I have been surprised. I really didn't think that so many people were putting materials in their recycling that they're not supposed to. So that's been hard for me, I have to say. I think that most of what people put in their recycling is fine. But if each of the 20,000 households in Arlington puts a plastic bag or a styrofoam meat tray in their recycling that doesn't belong there, that's 20,000 pieces of contamination in every week. And that times all the other communities that are doing the same, it adds up to a lot of contamination. And that's why these programs are really important. This kind of support from the state to be able to have this door to door inspection is really uncovering the harsh reality that there's still a lot for us to learn out there. And you were saying that this is really bringing into high relief a general concern that you've had for a long time about contamination in that recycling stream. One thing that I was struck by in seeing one of the flyers was something that kind of works the other way. In other words, I saw that you can with pizza boxes, for instance, it is... I don't know how to put this, whether it's now permissible when it wasn't before. But anyway, it seems okay for there to be some kind of food scraps or bits of cheese or whatever on the boxes. How should people be treating boxes and containers with little bits of food? Is that fine to put in the recycling? Well, we actually want the containers to be very clean. They don't have to be scrubbed clean. But if it was a plastic container that was really mucky with peanut butter, for example, I would suggest people just throw that away if they don't want to clean it out. But we have to think of our materials that we recycle or that we place in the recycling bin as something that's going to be purchased and bought and made into something new. So we need it to be pretty clean. As far as pizza boxes, I know that's a big change for people. The reason that we can now recycle pizza boxes, and it's not pizza boxes with little pieces of cheese, it's pizza boxes with grease. The grease is okay. But if it has a slice of pizza on it, it's not okay. If it was a triple cheesy pizza, please don't put that triple cheesy mess in the recycling. But if it's just a little bit of grease at the bottom, that's no problem. And the reason that we know that now is because, again, of this Recycle Smart program, the Mass DEP went to all of the sorting facilities in Massachusetts and checked in with them and found out with them what is marketable, what they can sell, what is being purchased and remanufactured. And it turns out that a little bit of grease on our pizza boxes is just fine. Let me share my screen and show you what our recycling looks like. So here's what our recycling looks like during a visit that some public works employees went to the sorting facility. This is called greenworks. And this is where our recycling is sorted. And for the most part, you can see a lot of cardboard, maybe some plastic containers. But what we see when we go up closer is a lot of soft plastics, a lot of plastic bags, bubble wrap, and soft packaging like that. And that's really not okay. And that plastic soft plastic is really the primary thing that the recycling IQQ program from the state's point of view is concerned about removing from our curbside recycling. We really want to get those soft plastics, plastic grocery bags, air pillows, all that packaging that we're also receiving because of the virus at home, all that soft plastic packaging we need to keep out of our curbside recycling. Well, thank you very much for that thorough description of what is happening at the curbside. And it is as you've already alluded to very important right now, because people are spending so much more time at home and going through so many more materials at home and then needing to dispense with those materials in a responsible way. So very good, I think. But obviously that only deals with one part of the recycling services here in Arlington. Something that I know over the years has been very popular people's ability to drop off all kinds of stuff that don't get doesn't get picked up at the curb. So tell us what the story is currently with drop off activities in the recycling realm here in Arlington. Yes, so with our offices not open to the public in person, we are arranging by appointment drop off opportunities. So electronic waste is a typical thing that people want to drop off. The only electronic waste that we are all required to not put in our trash are things with screens. So televisions and monitors and laptops. Everything else really could go in the trash, but a lot of people are very concerned about their privacy, their electronic privacy. So we also want to be able to offer a collection of computer hard drives. And so we have a quite an extensive electronic drop off program. We accept stereo equipment and small appliances like toasters or irons or curling irons or blenders. And these are now by appointment and you go to Arlington MA dot gov slash recycle. And this fall we have ongoing appointments that people can sign up for. All the usual fees apply. So there's still fees for televisions and monitors and laptops, but everything else is free. So let me also tell you about our other drop off that's popular, which is the recycling center. That's a once a month activity. We did have to pause that for a few months this spring, but we're back on and unless there's snow, we're able to offer the recycling center. But definitely during the winter months, we'll have to keep keep an eye on the weather and see how it goes. And when just remind us when does the recycle center take place? And are you taking the same kinds of things in all the time? Or do those dates? Does what you can drop off vary for different months, etc? Well, for these, the rest of the winter will have just the basics. So you can go to Arlington MA dot gov slash recycle and look for the recycling center page in the left hand navigation. And that will explain all the different things that we take every month, which include scrap metal, very popular and bulky rigid plastic like big play equipment or five gallon buckets or larger things like that. From time to time, we have medical sharp drop off, which is also very popular. That will be happening in November and February this winter. Otherwise, we keep most of the other kinds of special collections to the spring and the fall. So those have passed now and look for those again in May. And I know that it traditionally happens on a Saturday, right? And is that always like the first or second Saturday? Or does it vary? No, we stay away from three day weekends. It might be a Saturday or it might be a Sunday. We've introduced a couple of Sundays instead for people. So people should just check out the website where you have already pointed them and to get the latest information about the schedule. Yeah. And we're being very COVID safe. We've got fewer people. It's all by registration. So we have under 200 people attending and it's a four hour event now. So when you sign up and come, there are only 25 other people who are going to be attending the event. It's always outdoors, always in the fresh air, come rain or shine. And our volunteers are very well trained to help you. So you don't have to get too close to anybody. And we know it's a great option for people who are spending extra time at home cleaning out their basements and garages to be able to bring their items to us. So we really don't want to have to close that down. But of course, if the state or town regulations change at all, this is another kind of event that might have to be postponed. So be on the lookout for that. And in the town notices, you know, another program that at least anecdotally from my observation seems to be exploding in popularity over the last couple of years is food scrap diversion. Composting that happens also seemingly curbside and drop off. So tell us about that. Yeah. The curbside collection is very popular. We have been selling compost bins at a discount to residents for many, many years, and that actually continues to be very popular. But more and more people want to do the food scrap diversion, but they don't want to do the backyard composting piece of it because it does take quite a bit of attention. So food scrap pick up at the curb has a cost to it. It's a subscription. There are four companies that are offering their services in Arlington. So we've got those all laid out in the town's website so you can visit each one online and see which one works for you. We did send out postcards. Have you been wanting to compost? So this is the little illustration of the cart that many of the companies use to they give you the cart. Oftentimes they sell it to you. So what the town has done to promote these programs is that we will give you this little cart and we'll also give you a sink side container to collect your food scraps in. And that's considered a food scrap diversion kit. And it's our way of thanking the public for being willing to sign up for a subscription service. When we originally got going with this, there were, you know, maybe about a thousand households that had already signed up just word of mouth. It was amazing. So our goal in really investing in this program and starting to offer these kits was to double that to get to 2000. We're really largely there. We've given away another, I would say, 700 kits in the last 10 months, 12 months, and we have about 300 more left. We'd really like to get those given away. So we hope that people listening will consider the food scrap diversion that way. But for those who aren't quite sure it's the right thing for them yet or they don't really want to commit to a year long or six month long subscription service, we do have a free drop off program. We just ask that people register for it and really follow the vegetarian rules about the drop off program. So we can give everybody the URL for that. And where does the drop off happen in different at different sites around town? Just one. Where is the locations right now at the skating rink actually right along the bike path and at public works at 51 Grove Street. But we do ask people to learn a little bit about it first. And so that we can reach you in case we have to close it for snow or any other emergency event. And yet that's clearly yet another aspect of the town's recycling services that must be even more kind of valuable or well used now because people are spending so much more time at home cooking more eating, you know, like as you said, ordering take out more, etc. But nonetheless, I imagine that food scraps have risen at people's residences. Yes, but they've also we believe are strongly contributing to a reduction in the weight of our trash, which is really exciting to see really the ultimate goal. But it's also very exciting to see some early signs of that in the tonnage data. Great. We are speaking in early November and that means we are right in the middle of or approaching, you know, the leaves with leaves are coming off for sure, and they will continue to do so. So leaf season brings its own particular, you know, schedule of services. Tell us about that, please. Sure. Well, we have weekly leaf collection, yard waste collection through the first full week of December. So the seventh to the 11th, I believe, whatever your trash and recycling date that week, that's your last week of leaf collection. And yeah, leaves can get pretty heavy this time of year. So we need people to not make their bags too too heavy. We also need everyone to be really vigilant if it's going to snow to pull your bags off the curb and allow for the plows to have access. That's one reason why we stop leaf collection when we do, because tipped over bags of leaves on a street that needs to be plowed creates a big mess and even some dangerous situations. So we we appreciate the public's cooperation with that. Last thing you'll be happy to hear. Let me just ask you to outline any whatever you can share with our audience around both short and longer term plans that people can anticipate coming out of our Department of Public Works and your office to recycling. Well, in the short term, I would say that we really would like to figure out how to have some of our reuse and repair activities resume with with COVID in place. It's it's been challenging. People love the the fix it clinics. Those are available virtually and we'll try and get more information out to the public about those so that people can get back in the habit of trying to repair their items. We just received our annual grant from Master EP that rewards us for the recycling and diversion activities that we already do with grant funding that must be earmarked for additional waste diversion programming. So that's pretty exciting. Every time we get that money, we can put our heads together with input from public works and Zero Waste Committee, Zero Waste Arlington. You know, what what are the goals now? What should we be investing in? Some of the things that we have to keep in mind right now about investment are the fact that the DPW will be under renovation at some point in the not too distant future. So we need to possibly, you know, figure out how to hold the recycling center events during that time or pause for a short amount of time. We're not sure yet. And then we have another contract, another waste contract coming up in about a couple of years. So I know that seems like it's far away to the public. But to me, it feels really, really close and we want to create the best possible program for the town for the years to come. So that's what those are our future plans that we spend a lot of time thinking about. Are there standard kind of arrangements in terms of time made with with the the companies you contract with? In other words, you're saying it's coming up in a couple of years. Is that going to be something that then runs for five years, ten years or is there no set timeframe? There's no set timeframe. And I would say that in terms of what's common, it can be as short as three years. Five years is pretty typical. This last contract was ten years and that was pretty unusual. It ended up serving us really well. We were we have been very insulated as a community from the ups and downs of the recycling market because of that long term contract. But going forward, we'll have a lot of good advice and a lot of good thinkers helping us design a contract and a program that will be very forward thinking. And I don't know. I don't know if another ten year contract is even a possibility out there these days. I think that with all the uncertainty in markets, I think that probably something shorter is is more more typical. Well, I personally can't imagine this conversation having been any more expansive and comprehensive than it is. And I imagine there are those in our audience who might feel like, oh, my God, no idea that that so much could be said about our recycling programs. But let me ask you before we go whether there is anything else that that you would like to make sure people know and that we haven't covered. Well, I just I think I take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience during this time of of stress at home. Yet here the town is coming to you and saying, well, but could you also make a couple of changes in your recycling habits? We know that that's asking the public to pay attention to something that, you know, maybe some people don't really have the energy to pay attention to right now. But the we'd really like to make everything simpler. And we're really working towards that and the packaging industry, the food production industry is really working against us in that way. Inventors, material scientists, all kinds of exciting things are going on in the food packaging world, but that makes recycling really complex. And so bear with us, we'll try to get you the information out as we can. But when you get some funky new interesting packaged food item, just be really glad it looks really cool and it works really well to keep that food safe. But know that it might mean that that packaging is not recyclable. And if you're not sure, check in with me and I will let you know. Well, Arlington, as we know, is a community that highly values the work that you do, both the the logistics of it and the values that underlie it. So, you know, I think on behalf of the community, we would also like to thank you and the Department of Public Works for continuing to push forward with this important work. So I have been speaking with Charlotte Milan, who is our town's recycling coordinator. I'm James Milan, and this is talk of the town. Appreciate your being here, Charlotte. And we also appreciate you being here to watch. We will see you next time.