Stonington’s solid waste director John Phetteplace will receive the award from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) during a ceremony in Hartford.
Phetteplace was the architect of the town's recycling and pay-for-bag programs, which have lowered the costs of trash disposal and created a system in which residents only pay for the garbage they generate. Phetteplace often speaks to other communities about the programs and how they can implement their own.
Stonington's yellow bag program, which requires residents to buy special garbage bags for their trash instead of paying for disposal based on their property assessment, has been in existence since 1992. Businesses are required to use certain sized dumpsters and are charged by volume as well. Stonington and East Lyme were the first communities in the state to implement such a program. East Lyme's is no longer in effect.
In addition to its recycling and pay-for-bag programs, the town has brochures explaining recycling, composting and other topics, recycles all types of paper, has a shed at the transfer station where items can be left for others to use and make composting bins available at a reduced rate.
In announcing the awards, the DEP says the towns are being recognized for implementing outstanding and innovative recycling programs. It says the towns would serve as models for other communities. The other towns receiving the recycling awards are Cornwall, Middletown, Portland, Manchester, New Britain, Redding, Mansfield, Norwalk and Somers.
“We leave it up to the individual to determine that they want to spend on waste disposal. We don't police your garbage. We offer you a way to save money. And environmentally it makes a lot of sense,” Phetteplace says. “With the budget crisis, more and more towns are looking at it as a way to save money.”
For example, he says, it costs the town just $6 a ton to dispose of bottles and cans compared to $60 a ton for garbage. The town recycles almost as many bottles and cans as Groton, which has more than twice as many residents. The more residents recycle the less they have to pay for bags. Such programs allow towns to cut their trash production by as much as 40 percent.
“It's been successful. It does what it's supposed to do,” Phetteplace says. – TheDay.com