Ryan, As I stated in my letter, I am Newtown's representative to HRRA and have been for over 26 years. Jen Heaton Jones of HRRA is the expert in our region and is recognized statewide and nationally, that is where I get my information. You are the one who is mistaken and unfortunately gave Jeff faulty information in a report that he relied upon. You are citing national statistics, not what happens in our region. Our glass program is working for those who take it to the transfer station as requested, As I said in my letter, glass that is pit in bins does break and cause contamination and extra cost for cleaning at our materials recycling center, but once cleaned, 100% of the cleaned recyclables are recycled!
Where you speak about the delicate balance you missed another very important consideration that our town needs to balance, the property owner. The property owner has rights since the founding of this nation. As for the NIMBY's, I just wish the NIMBY's who never been vocal about an issue are honest about their intent. There is a tendency to hide behind the "greater good".
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According to the Bee, our first selectman said the following. When asked why he did not vote on any of the additions, First Selectman Jeff Capeci explained it was due to parliamentary procedure, which stipulates he should only be casting votes if needed to break a tie. However reading the March minutes The First Selectman voted unanimously on numerous motions. So what is the rule votes on all motions or only on ties???
I heard in an interview a few months with a state representative. I'm double checking with him to make sure I did not misunderstand what he was saying. -Jim T.
Herb,
With all due respect, I believe you are misinformed and your numbers are out of date.
When I was on the LC we were told by our experts (the folks Jeff relies on) that 0% of the glass in single stream gets recycled, and it contaminates others commodities, making them less desirable for these markets. Sorted glass however is 100% recycled. There was a program to remove glass, but it was unsuccessful. Plastics are often listed as "recycled," but many end up as trash in 3rd world countries since China has stopped taking it. There are several articles about this. 2022 Boston Globe "Plastic Recycling is a Myth" for example.
Single Stream Recycling actually became more expensive than garbage, creating an incentive to dump it as garbage or reject the loads (a complaint of the local haulers.) This has been documented on the record by Jen from HRRA and in state papers like the CT Mirror, again I can send you articles on the subject.
If the goal is to recycle as much of our waste as possible, sorted recycling has far more efficacy than single stream, and a relatively smaller increase in sorted would offset changes in curbside and be a net positive for the environment.
