October 29, 2007

Recycling down in Bristol

New press release from City Hall:

Public Works was recently notified that the City of Bristol has experienced a decline in the amount of recyclable materials being collected.

Recycling is mandated by law in the State of CT and by Ordinance in the City of Bristol. Recycling also saves the City of Bristol money, as rubbish costs nearly twice as much to process than recyclables.

In an effort to ensure full participation in recycling, the City of Bristol Public Works Department will begin randomly auditing the contents of rubbish barrels to ensure that recyclable materials are not being disposed of with rubbish. If recyclable material is found in rubbish barrels, residents will be notified of the violation, and repeated offenses could lead to citations/fines.

Mandatory recyclables are newspaper, magazines, corrugated cardboard (cut to 3’X3’), office & computer paper, clean glass & metal, plastic #1 or #2 (stamped on the bottom) food and beverage containers, paper milk/juice cartons and aseptic beverage containers,
Additional items that should be recycled are catalogues, phone books, junk mail, soft cover books, brown envelopes and packing paper.

Newspapers (and other paper recyclables) can be placed in a separate bin instead of in paper bags to make recycling easier for residents. Recycle bins are available, free of charge, at Public Works (City Hall – Ground Floor) Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Saturday mornings at the Transfer Station.

If you have any questions, or want more information about recycling, please contact Public Works at (860) 584-6125.


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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee some gentleman brought this up at the council several times and Zoppo & Stortz said it wasn't true - people were recycling.
Guess they were wrong.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how much overtime pay they will be giving the public works employees to conduct these inspections.

Anonymous said...

The gentleman was a Louis Michaud who has been bringing this subject up for close to 2 years; how come we have to wait for the state to tell us that this is the situation, why doesn't anyone in public works listen to the people who see these types of abuses everyday - the people. Thank you Mr. Michaud

Anonymous said...

Yeah that was his name - he keep bringing it up and Stortz told him people are recycling, and more then we know - Ooops Bill you were incorrect!! They should fine Zoppo's tenant on Kory Lane - they don't recycle either.
When will the city leaders start listening to the citizens when they bring up issues? I know once Ward gets in office things will start happening and if you bring an issue to him - it will get addressed. Wards word is good as gold. Ward has integrity!!

Ruth

Anonymous said...

Here are a few suggestions for the town. Have recycling EVERY week. Give everyone LARGE bins to put the items in. I do not recycle all the time because pick up is every other week. Having a family means that you have more stuff to recycle, but I am tired of leaving my SMALL bin outside overflowing with materials and not having a pick up until the next week. I moved from a town that had pick up every week and more people did it. As far as public works going through the garbarge; give me a break! Just have them pick up every week.

Anonymous said...

The City makes it too difficult for residents to get rid of their stuff, including recycling. Sometimes it's cumbersom to chop up cardboard to the size they require. Bulk pick ups are very difficult to get and there is a long waiting time.

Maybe the City should find easier ways for the residents to recycle.

Anonymous said...

Great, now we have to watch out for the garbagemen.

How about this. We citizens will do a better job at recycling if the garbagemen will do a better job of picking up our garbage and not letting the the cans fall down all over the street.

Anonymous said...

I think it may be time better spent to make sure businesses are recycling. I know that the businesses where my family and I work do not recycle and they go through a good bunch more cardboard than my 1 soda box a week! I do support recycling, but I also support fair play.

Anonymous said...

Well, we’ll have to raise taxes now so we can pay the PW guys to go dumpster diving every week. Then we’ll get the police involved to protect the PW guys so some suspicious citizen doesn’t mistake him for an identify thief and sic his dog on them. (oh, wait!! then the cops will shoot the dog…...)

Anonymous said...

Anyone who lives in the Kory Lane / Ipswitch Road neighborhood knows that when you put your recycling out it ends up blown all over the street from the wind off the lake by the time the PW truck comes around. So it’s not just Ellen Zoppo’s tenants who are “guilty” here.

Anonymous said...

Unless the wind is blowing 50mph that statement is incorrect! I live on cedar lake and have no problem with my recyclables being blown around. Seems to me more hot air is being blown here then bottles and cans.

Anonymous said...

Go figure, Bristol's plan to have the G-Men go through our garbage was just on CNN Headline News.

I'm so proud!

Everybody better start shreading what they don't want prying eyes to see. Even your trash isn't private anymore

Anonymous said...

In a waiting room today I saw CNN broadcasting a story about our very own city of Bristol. Was it about ESPN? No. Was it about our historical heritage? No. It was about our new draconian recycling policy. Way to go, Bristol! Make this city ever so appealing to the masses out there.

A great message to send: move to Bristol, and if you throw away a piece of junk mail into the garbage you can get fined $100.

This policy can also be a great way to retaliate against people you don't like. Tip off the Public Works department, or better yet, if a garbageman or one of his friends doesn't like a person, that person can be targeted for inspection. Same thing about political enemies of those friendly with the Public Works people (do we know of any such politicians? absolutely) And what if a person dumps recyclable materials in someone else's trash can that morning after people leave for work?

This is a terrible policy that has been bungled in the media by our well-compensated city employees and supervisors. Another black eye for Bristol.

Steve, I suggest you keep an eye on this issue, because it is about to explode in the city's face.

Anonymous said...

This should be deemed unconstitutional. Why would anyone do this? It is one's decision to Go Green, not the city's decision to make someone go green. I personally believe that we are going "over-green".

Anonymous said...

I can’t believe that no one asked if this was legal. This is an invasion of privacy!
Did the Public Works Department talk to the city lawyers about this? I see a possible
lawsuit coming soon when some one sues the city for invasion of privacy here.