HUNTINGTON – At its June 21 meeting in Town Hall, the Huntington Board of Health voted not to raise the cost of “H” stickers for bags of trash. The price for stickers will remain at $1 for trash bags up to 30 gallons, and $2 for larger bags up to 60 gallons.
The Huntington Board of Health held a public hearing recently to discuss possible rate increases at the transfer station. (Photo by Amy Porter)
In fact; the cost of using the transfer station has gone down this year, with the price of the annual permit reduced from $35 to $30, initially with the intention of offsetting an increase in sticker prices.
The new permits, effective July 1, were being sold Saturday at the Transfer station. Permits will also be available for sale on Wednesday, July 5, when the Transfer station will be open from 3 to 6:45 p.m. (in lieu of the July 4 holiday). Regular hours are Tuesdays 3 to 6:45 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Instead of raising the prices, the Board of Health has set an ambitious 50% recycling goal with the intent of increasing quantity and improving the quality of the materials being recycled at the transfer station. In 2016, the Town of Huntington had a recycling rate of 21.9%, second lowest among the ten towns that participate in the Hampshire Resource Management Cooperative,
Many residents are conscientious about recycling and believe that they are properly recycling, according to a press release posted on the town website at: www.huntingtonma.us, which also states that the Board of Health encourages residents to be aware of recycling’s “Most Unwanted.” Number one on the list is bagging recycling in plastic bags, which is one of the most common problems at the Springfield Municipal Recycling Facility (MRF).
Residents are also reminded to keep these items out of their recycling bin:
• No Plastic Bags in with recycling– they bind up sorting material at the MRF
• No Placement of Recycling in Plastic Bags
• No Cords or wrapping items – these shut down MRF rollers
• No Loose Shredded Paper – place shredded paper in paper bags
• Keep non-recyclable plastics out of the MRF container, such as pellet bags (see attendant for special collection area), plastic cups, and plastic containers that contained a hazardous material – i.e. windshield washer fluid, bleach, nail polish, motor oil, etc.
• No wet-strength paper – soda and beer sleeves and paper items from the frozen food section of the grocery store are reinforced with plastic to prevent them from collapsing when wet. These cannot be recycled into paper.
• No food waste in containers – Please rinse. Clean pizza boxes – okay. Pizza in the box is not!
• No scrap metal – it damages recycling equipment. Place in metal bin.
• No ceramics, drinking glasses, canning jars
• No fluorescent light bulbs or CRTs – see attendant for special collection area. Mercury bulbs that are broken have had the mercury released. Place broken bulb in with your household trash.
In addition to properly recycling, the Board of Health encourages residents to be mindful to reduce waste and to do all that they can to re-use products or re-purpose them.
