(originally sent January 13, 2021)
PEDAL PEOPLE NEWS WINTER 2021 Greetings from the Pedal People Press! This is our simple, informative newsletter to support our collective path to sustainability. In this issue: * Important: Necessary Price Increases Due to the Rising Costs of Recycling and Trash * Recycling Good News * Helpful Recycling Info Link * Holiday Tree Disposal ** NECESSARY PRICE INCREASES DUE TO RISING COSTS OF RECYCLING AND TRASH ** Please be advised that we are raising our rates. These price increases take into account our increased costs at the two transfer stations we bike your trash to. The city increased the costs of vehicle permits for the Locust St transfer station, more than tripling our general use charges (by 317%), as of January 1, 2021. Valley Recycling started charging us for recyclable cans and bottles last year, in addition to increases in trash costs. The transfer station changes are based on larger disruptions in the recycling markets. In short, since China stopped accepting the poor quality materials most of the world was sending it for the last two decades, the global recycling infrastructures have been in disarray. This finally reached our part of the world this year, when the recycling contract with the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility (where our regional recycling goes) was renegotiated. The new contract changed recycling from something that made a little revenue for cities to a major expense. For example, instead of making around $20/ton for recyclables, cities now pay a $90/ton base fee, and sometimes get a small refund for the materials, depending on market rates. This has made recycling more expensive per ton than trash in most places (the expense of which also continues to increase as landfills close). Since the state requires many things to be diverted from the trash (a good thing!), but has not provided cities with funding to take into account these recent issues, the costs are passed on to households. The Valley Advocate had a good article on this earlier last year: https://valleyadvocate.com/2020/02/19/free-recycling-in-western-mass-is-about-to-end-what-people-are-doing-about-it-at-the-local-and-state-level/ Here are the new rates and limits: https://www.pedalpeople.coop/index.php?page=2 The price changes will not go into effect until your next bill. However, the changes to the recycling limits go into effect immediately. We are struggling to handle increased amounts during the pandemic since so many people have been working from home. The previous extra charges and limits were not covering these increased costs. Consider changing from biweekly to weekly pickups if you produce a lot of recycling. Thank you for your understanding, and let us know if you have any questions. ** RECYCLING GOOD NEWS ** Now for two items of good recycling news from the last few months: Pizza boxes are now recyclable! They should be broken down and placed with your cardboard (or paper recycling for small boxes). Please remove any remaining food or wax paper, both of which can go in your compost. Crystal clear plastic cups are also now recyclable! Please remove any lids, straws, or anything else in the cups. All other forms of non-clear plastic cups, paper cups, lids, or straws of any kind, are not recyclable, and should go in your trash. This is the case in all of Western Mass, regardless of if the other items have recycling symbols on them. ** HELPFUL RECYCLING INFO LINK ** In addition to our recycling information sheet, below is a quick online search tool if you have any questions about whether an item is recyclable. We encourage you to refrain as best you can from "wishcycling" even though it comes from good intentions. If we can keep more non-recyclable materials out of recycling, workers will have to spend less time picking those items out, and the cost for recycling as a whole can be lower. You are always welcome to contact us with your recycling questions! http://springfieldmrf.org/what-do-i-do-with ** TIPS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR ** We can take broken holiday lights as scrap metal recycling! Small quantities of scrap metal can be placed next to your bins for pickup and shouldn’t be mixed with containers recycling. Please let us know beforehand if you have larger metal items. One of the most common winter issues is compost getting stuck to the bottom of buckets in freezing weather, preventing us from taking that last bit away. Here are a few suggestions: * After cleaning out your bucket and letting it dry, line your bucket with a paper bag or newspaper. This helps prevent food waste from freezing to the bucket, and will make your cleanup easier in general. You may want to do this even if you are using BPI-certified compostable bags, which can still freeze to edges. * Try to reduce the water content of your compost. Completely drain things like coffee grounds before adding them to your bucket. * Keep your bucket in a space above freezing before pickup day. Leaving your bucket outside all the time this time of year creates a solid and unremovable compost chunk. ** HOLIDAY TREE DISPOSAL ** We continue to offer holiday tree hauling service! Our current rates are: $15 for a small tree (approx. 4 feet or less), $20 for a medium tree (4 to 6 feet), or $25 for a large tree (6 feet or more). Alternatively, there is a local farm where you may drop off your tree for goats to consume, at 326 West Pomeroy Lane in Amherst. Here is a link to a recent article and the information: https://www.amherstbulletin.com/Amherst-resident-seeks-Christmas-trees-for-goats-38031529