Hamilton’s Curbside Organics Pilot Program

Gretel Clark, Hamilton Recycling Committee

Background Info

HAMILTONWENHAM

• Population = 8,ooo 5,000• Families 2,400 1,200• Square miles 15 8• Pop/sq. mile 554 546• Lots of open space so many households

compost on their property• Both Towns vote Republican

Recycling History• 5 years ago, encouraged recycling, enforced waste bans, continued unlimited

of solid waste• 3 years ago Hamilton, then Wenham (a year later), voted in a WRP (one free

barrel: $1.75/bag for excess solid waste). Pay hauler through taxes.• 2 years ago instituted a pilot composting program involving 75 families for 8

weeks in winter– Implemented by volunteer Recycle committee in Hamilton. – Free bins and service to participants: weekly pick up of compost– Hauler and composter offered their services for free– Residents given free compost

• Results of program revealed:– Average of 27lbs solid waste before organics collection. With organics,

the participating households removed 10-12 lbs per week = 1/3 to ½ less!– With 81% of participants responding, 92% said that they would pay any

where from $50-$100/year to have their organic waste picked up weekly.

Results of Larger Pilot Program• One year ago, after 6 months of recruiting, a second organic waste

program was introduced with 575 families participating and paying $75 for weekly pick up; many paying $29 for their counter top and roadside bins.

• Hamilton administered the program for both towns. • Survey results showed:

– unqualified (94%) support at the same price.– program should be offered town-wide with an increase in the price of

the solid waste overflow bags (73%) – composting program should be mandatory if free (54%)– 56% had taken advantage of the free compost offer.

• Only two problems heard, (they were solved): – Maggots in the summer—solved by freezing meat and cooked food

until pick-up day; – Compost freezing to bottom of bin in winter—solved by bringing bin

into house the night before pick up day.

Where are we going from here?• Hiltz proposed using a split body truck for Recycling

and Organics. In addition, the Town is considering:– Change from a Waste Reduction Program (one free 33 gal.

barrel) to PAYT with NO free barrel.– Raising the price of the 33 gal. bag to $2.00 and offering a

half size bag at $1.00. – Offering weekly pick up of single-stream recyclables

(currently being picked up every other week) and compost– Continued weekly pick up of solid waste. – Residents’ compost will be picked up free. – Most, if not all, of the cost of the compost bin will be paid

for by grants and DEP assistance.

Benefits To The Town

• Trash cost expected go down another 15-25%• New bag revenue from the PAYT program to

help pay greater share of program costs• Potential to use the compost as fill for our

landfill (currently slated to cost the town $2.4 million).

• Longer term potential to install an anaerobic digester on the landfill site and accept other towns’ organics

Benefits To The Citizens

• Free weekly curbside organics collection• Weekly single-stream pick up of recyclables• Continued access to free compost• A lowered tax rate by putting trash costs into

an Enterprise Fund (off the tax).• Individual control over costs of disposal.

Benefits to the Environment

• Maximizing incentives for reuse, reducing, recycling, returning organics to the earth, etc.

• Cost is controlled by each family

Lessons Learned• Given the opportunity, ~17% of the households

will pay to have organics collected• Households dispose of 10-12 lbs of organics

weekly, up to 17 lbs if allowed to include grass clippings and yard waste.

• A curbside collection of organics could remove 1/3 to ½ of the weight of solid waste remaining even in a PAYT/WRP community!

• Investigate a split-body packer truck for co-collection of recycling and organics.

Key Ingredients for Success

• Access to a local place to compost organics• Willing participants in a pilot program to

provide proof of concept to town officials• Cooperative relationship with SW hauler.