Corcoran Environmental Services Inc. of Kennebunk, Maine, and Pinard Waste Systems of Manchester, N.H., have been awarded a multi-year recycling and yard waste contract with the City of Manchester, N.H.
The agreement extends 10 years with eight additional five-year options for renewal. The intent of the long-term contract, according to Joanne McLaughlin, recycling superintendent for the City of Manchester, is to increase residential recycling in Manchester and to create a customer friendly program.
“When the city put out the Request For Proposal (RFP) we asked for an innovative system that would increase recycling participation with the goal of diverting more recyclable materials from the waste stream,” says McLaughlin. “Corcoran came out with an exceptional plan that will eventually switch the city to a much more user-friendly recycling program.”
As part of the agreement, Pinard Waste Systems of Manchester will provide the curbside recycling services. “Having Pinard Waste, a local company that started its business in the Manchester area more than 40 years ago, facilitating this new recycling program is very exciting,” says McLaughlin. “Pinard [provides] an immediate connection for us. We’re dealing with folks locally, not on a regional or national level. They’ve committed a dedicated staff and dedicated trucks exclusively for this program.”
The agreement also states that within the next three years Corcoran will design, construct and operate a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at a residential drop-off location in Manchester. “Once the MRF is built, the city will shift to a single-stream recycling effort,” adds McLaughlin. “Single-stream allows residents to place all recyclables, paper, plastics, metal and glass in one recycle [container]. The MRF facility has the ability to sort the materials so that residents won’t have to.”
Remarks Patrick Corcoran, president of Corcoran Environmental Services Inc., “The City of Manchester invites and supports innovation, and they’ve developed a recycling plan with an eye toward the future. This agreement will take the city in a totally new direction than they’ve been in the last 10 years.”
Currently the recycling participation rate in the Queen City is roughly 47 percent, says McLaughlin. “That's low to average,” he remarks. “The bi-weekly recycling collection program we had was too confusing. Residents would put their trash out each week and their recyclables out the next week but on a different day than their trash collection. It was crazy. But as of March 1, 2006, this new, easy-to-use program will now allow residents to put all their trash and recyclables out on the same day.”
Several new revenue streams will also be realized as part of the recycling contract, city officials predict. “With the new MRF, with every ton that’s taken into this new facility, the city will receive a host fee,” says McLaughlin. “The city will also collect part of the revenue from the sale of all recycled materials that are processed there.”
Additionally, Corcoran Environmental will also pay a ground lease for the MRF operation. “The long and the short of it is recycling pays,” states McLaughlin. “It’s good for the environment and it’s good for our pocketbooks. The more we recycle the more money we get in return and the more we’ll save in disposal fees. The money that’s saved will go back into the general fund. This is all revenue that the city was not getting. The savings will be reflected in everyone’s tax bill.”