Recycling is proving to have its CHaRM in Saugus

SAUGUS – The town of Saugus wants to CHaRM you with the way it collects hard-to-recycle items.But to do that, it’ll have to close the compost and recycling center behind Department of Public Works at 515 Main St. every Wednesday from Aug. 5 to Sept. 9.Closing the center will give the city the opportunity to repurpose and reuse the space to further its recycling efforts, said Town Manager Scott Crabtree.While the center is closed, construction to build a Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) will be underway. The CHaRM will make it possible for residents to recycle items that aren’t accepted in curbside bins, such as electronics and unrecyclable plastics.”The Saugus CHaRM facility is the first of its kind in Massachusetts,” said Crabtree.”The DEP has been encouraging, and supporting, the creation of a CHaRM facility so that we have a way to collect items year-round, and avoid having them show up in green bags in our waste or trash stream that are then burned into the air we all breathe,” he said.The compost site, which the town opened in April 2014, accepts grass clippings, leaves and brush as long as they are in brown paper leaf bags. The site is opened seasonally on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.The improvement to the site will create a single drop-off location for hard-to-recycle items and compost, making it more convenient for residents to take advantage of the center.”Unlike a transfer station, this facility is designed to be a one-stop drop-off center that can accept a wider range of items for recycling than our traditional curbside program can,” said Crabtree.The center will not accept traditional recycling items, such as paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, Crabtree said. However, the town will still offer weekly curbside pickup.In doing this, the town hopes to improve and make operations at the site more efficient and provide the community with a cleaner environment.Last year, Saugus recycled 3.5 million pounds of material, according to the town website.”By doing this, Saugus saved the equivalent of 345,700 gallons of gasoline, 25,500 trees and recycled enough plastic bottles to make 6,300 fleece jackets,” the website says.During the time that the CHaRM is being constructed, the site will remain open for regular hours every Saturday.”This facility will replace our previous program for hard-to-recycle goods in which the town ran collection days twice a year at the Saugus High School parking lot,” Crabtree said.”Having a permanent location will benefit the environment as well as provide an important benefit to our residents, who now have an opportunity to recycle hard-to-recycle materials on a consistent basis.”