By MICHELLE KIM
Goffstown News Correspondent
 

GOFFSTOWN - Goffstown’s trash may become its treasure after the Board of Selectmen accepted the Solid Waste Commission’s recommendation for a new recycling vendor, which could save the town more than $100,000 a year and even net a profit.

Solid Waste Commission Chairman Fred Plett presented a summary of the five bids received by the comission for new recycling contracts at the Board of Selectmen’s Monday, Oct. 1, meeting. 

The comission recommended a three-year contract with Integrated Paper Recyclers (IPR), of Woburn, Mass., which could save Goffstown more than $100,000 annually. 

“After reviewing all the proposals, (IPR) offered the most cost-effective response,” said Tom Fatcheric, environmental project manager with the Department of Public Works and liaison to the commission. “They allowed us to continue to collect the same things we collect, and they’re more local than our current vendor.” 

The bids were compared to the $95,175 cost of a one-year extension of the contract with the current provider, Quebec-based Haycore, which expires at the end of this year. 

IPR would charge $35 per ton of recyclables but would credit Goffstown the market rate for paper materials, which ranges from $40 to $70 per ton. This could result in a profit to the town of approximately $3,000 to more than $20,000 a year, in addition to a savings of $95,175.

The bidding companies included Haycore, FCR in Auburn, Mass., Maine-based Ecomaine, Corcoran Environmental Services with offices in Maine and Manchester and IPR. The most competitive bids came from Corcoran and IPR.

The commission had reservations with Corcoran’s proposal due to the fact that Corcoran was relatively new to the recycling business with no recycling facility of its own, and would not accept materials such as plastic trash bags, polystyrene and expanded foam, according to Plett.

“We have an excellent reputation in the recycling community because we instituted a successful single-stream recycling program,” said Plett. “We want to keep that reputation. We were concerned about (Corcoran) because they have no facility at the moment.”

However, he noted that if Corcoran were to develop a facility in Manchester and had a track record, it could be even cheaper.

“We’re very mindful of the future and we do want to possibly do business with them in the future,” said Plett.

Selectman Phil D’Avanza expressed concern about whether community organizations would still be able to do fund drives collecting aluminum cans and other recyclables. Plett assured him it would be in the agreement that citizens could do what they wanted with recyclable materials before they were placed on the curb. 

“Once it’s curbside, they can’t pick through it,” said Plett. “But before that, it’s OK.”

Now that the board accepted the recommendation, the Solid Waste Commission will draw up an official proposal to be presented in about a month.

Goffstown instituted automated curbside pickup of single- stream recycling in August 2004, one of the first communities in New Hampshire to do so, said Fatcheric. Single-stream recycling allows recyclables to be collected together curbside and sorted out at the plant.

Currently, Goffstown recycles 27 percent of its solid waste, or about 2,025 tons a year, according to Plett.

Reproduced by the Goffstown Residents Association.