Milford Considers New Plan for Recycling, Trash

Two lidded, wheeled barrels — one for trash, another for recycling — would be distributed to Milford households for free under a proposal being considered by the town's Board of Health.

The switch to so-called 'single stream' recycling would eliminate the need for Milford residents to sort paper and cardboard from other recyclables. It would give residents in single-family, two-family and three-family homes two containers for each family. One barrel would hold 98 gallons, for recyclables, another would hold 64 gallons, for rubbish.

The town is considering not extending the service to 118 four- and five-unit homes, which often are run more like a business, with tenants, rather than family members occupying the apartments, said the town's Health Agent, Paul Mazzuchelli. No decision has been made, he said.

The changes, proposed by Republic Services (formerly Allied Waste), will be discussed by the town's Board of Health on Aug. 26, although a decision will not be made at that time, Mazzuchelli said.

The town is not considering going to a pay-per-bag system, and the rubbish and recycling contract will continue to be covered by property taxes, he said. Under its current contract, Milford pays $75 a ton to send its trash to an incinerator, Mazzuchelli said.

If the new barrels promote and encourage more recycling — which the company says its studies have shown — the town would pay less to incinerate the trash, Mazzuchelli said.

Milford has had curbside garbage collection since 1972. It started recycling pickup in 1991, the first community in Worcester County to do so, Mazzuchelli said.

The single barrel for recycling will make it easier, he said. "Single-stream is the way to go," Mazzuchelli said. "It's improving recycling rates."

Switching to the uniform barrels would eliminate a problem of loose trash bags getting ripped open by birds or raccoons, he said, and of recyclables blowing around the streets on windy days.

"You're not going to have it blowing around," he said.