Granby Recycling Efforts Are Growing

Sally Crapser, recycling coordinator at the Granby Department of Public Works, is upbeat about the town’s continuing adaptation to single stream recycling and the addition of new ventures like mattress recycling and composting.

Since the switch to single stream recycling began in July 2009, Granby has seen improvement in its recycling efforts. The town now generates about 1,500 tons of curbside recycling material each year, along with about 5,000 tons of solid waste (including commercial waste).

For a list of items that should be placed in your recycling bin and not your trash, click here.

While recycling is “going really well,” according to Crapser, two newer initiatives, composting and mattress recycling, are works in progress, hopefully on the way to mass adoption.

The mattress-recycling program began in August, after a less expensive alternative to the cost of bringing old mattresses to the town’s transfer station was found. Granby residents previously had to haul the mattress themselves and then pay a fee of $30 with the added detriment of adding additional waste to the landfill.

The new plan costs town residents only $10 to have mattresses brought to a recycling facility in Bloomfield, where the mattresses are broken down into recyclable parts.

“We’re recycling, it’s not just ending up in a landfill,” Crapser said.

Another benefit of the recycling program is the creation of local jobs, she said.

The town is looking into a program for recycling asphalt roof shingles as well.

The composting program is still “in its first stages,” Crapser said, there is a low barrier to adoption and benefits to be had from composting, including creating fertilizer for home gardens.

“Once you get used to it, it’s great,” she said. “It’s full of nutrients, it’s great for gardens.”

Placing compostable items in the garbage is not only inefficient, it’s illegal.

“Yard waste should never go into the trash,” Crapser said.

For optimum composting, residents should mix browns (like leaves and other dried out plant matter) with greens (food scraps and grass, among other items).

Helpful information about recycling in Granby can be found here.

To see which electronic items are acceptable for recycling, check out this list.

For more information about garbage removal, single-stream recycling, mattress recycling and composting, contact the Granby Department of Public Works Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 860-653-8960.