SWAMPSCOTT — The results from the Solid Waste Advisory Committee’s trash and recycling collection survey prompted a number of proposals aimed at reducing the town’s waste output and facilitating the convenient disposal of hazardous materials.
Last fall, the committee sent a survey to the public seeking feedback on the town’s waste collection and management practices. According to Committee Chair Wayne Spritz, more than 900 Swampscott residents responded to the survey, which the town used to garner feedback on its efforts to reduce its waste by 30% before 2030 in accordance with the Department of Environmental Protection’s 2021 Waste Master Plan.
Of those 900 residents, Committee member Katherine Mikk said, 300 responded to the survey’s open response or comment section. Mikk said the most common topics brought up in the survey were the town’s trash barrels, their size, and whether the town should revisit its trash-barrel policy to proportionally distribute barrels to households based on the number of residents in each one.
“We received the highest number of distinct comments on the trash-barrel size, but also their shape and animal accessibility to them,” Mikk said.
In accordance with its 2021 waste-reduction program, the town distributes one 35-gallon trash bin to each household and allows residents to purchase blue overflow bags from the town for amounts of trash that cannot fit in one barrel.
Survey results indicate that more than half of the respondents either never or rarely used the blue bag a year prior to taking the survey, a result that Mikk called a “good sign.” However, 20% of respondents reported using the overflow bags regularly, or at least twice a month.
“We had some people who reported using them every week,” Mikk said. “We did see that large households, which we are counting as four people or more, represented almost all of the responses that said they use a blue bag very regularly or every week.”
Mikk noted that of the respondents who considered the trash bins to be too small or who frequently purchased blue bags, the vast majority also said that they did not compost.
“People who are saying that the barrels are too small and they’re using a lot of blue bags, but they’re not composting… We want to consider ways to offer more public composting drop-offs or ways to make composting more accessible to more residents in the town,” Mikk said.
To the question “Do you have a specialty waste that you currently need help disposing of?” 216 Swampscott residents responded that they needed help disposing of oil paint, 153 responded that they needed help disposing of solvents, and 100 responded that they needed help disposing of old television sets. Other residents reported they needed help disposing of items such as fuel, tires, and car batteries.
At a Select Board meeting last Thursday, Committee member Emily Westhoven suggested the town ramp up its informational resources, signage, and push notifications about trash, recycling, and hazardous-material disposal.
Westhoven also suggested the town start selling recycling bins with lids at a discounted price and hold focus groups to promote composting as an alternative to the blue bags.
“One of the things that we suggest is actually focus groups, because I think we would love to talk to residents with a lot of blue-bag usage to see if there’s a pattern or is there more education needed,” Westhoven said. “It may apply to more residents that we can help. We can say ‘You can actually get rid of that,’ or ‘If you really started composting that would bring down your use of blue bags and, that way, your cost.’”
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said he looks forward to discussing waste-reduction solutions with the committee. He said that he thought young Swampscott residents could play a leading role in spreading awareness about trash reduction.
“I’m happy to meet and talk with you and the committee about finding ways to help fund some of these initiatives. I really do appreciate all the trash talk and all the recycling talk,” Fitzgerald said. “We know that our young citizens are going to be the key to actually engaging all of our older citizens. They inspire me, they inspire all of us.”
