NORTH ANDOVER — Weekly curbside pickup that requires no sorting is scheduled to come to town June 16, one of the perks that will come with a new recycling facility on Holt Road.
Selectmen last night authorized Town Manager Mark Rees to approve the agreement with Thomson Brothers Industries Inc., almost two years after the 30,000-square-foot recycling center was approved by the Board of Health to go in at 210 Holt Road.
As part of the agreement for Thomson Brothers to have a facility in town, the company will take over curbside pickup from Integrated Paper Recyclers LLC at no cost to the town. Curbside pickup is currently done once every two weeks and the paper, plastics and glass have to be separated. Thomson Brothers will continue to take the materials to the out-of-town processing facility owned by Integrated Paper Recyclers.
Selectman Rosemary Smedile said the new recycling agreement should encourage more people to recycle because it adds convenience.
"This is really exciting," she said. "It is making it so much easier for everybody."
The Board of Health approved the facility to be on Holt Road in 2006, after more than a decade of controversy in which one plan for a recycling center and two plans for a strip club were turned down for the site.
Construction is set to begin on the facility and will take at least six months. Once that is complete, the recycling drop-off center that is behind the Department of Public Works building on 384 Osgood St. will move to Holt Road. The drop-off center will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday.
Solid Waste Advisory Committee Chairwoman Tina Klein said she hopes that with weekly pickup, people will make less trips to the drop-off center. In addition to everything now collected, residents will also be able to drop off tires at the center as well as usable furniture that will be donated to charity. Residents also can arrange to have appliances, usable furniture and electronic equipment, including computers and monitors, picked up.
The Solid Waste Advisory Committee will circulate fliers in residents' trash bins after they are emptied to let people know about the changes. Klein said everything that was collected before can still go out to the curb, which includes paper, cardboard, glass and plastic. The difference is it can now be put in one big container with a lid, no bigger than 64 gallons, and weighing less than 50 pounds. The truck also will look more like a trash truck, with everything thrown into the back and compressed to be separated at the facility.
Attorney Jonathan Klavens, who worked on the agreement with Klein, Health Board Chairman Thomas Trowbridge and Department of Public Works Director Bruce Thibodeau, said recycling pickup services will also be extended to all businesses in town for a "reasonable" fee.
Curbside pickup — starting June 16
r Weekly curbside recycling pickup for all residents, including those in apartments
r All recyclables can go in the same container
r Offered to all businesses for a fee
Drop-off center on Holt Road — when facility complete
r Used furniture accepted
r Tires accepted
r Electronic equipment can be dropped off or picked up for a fee
r Open every Saturday
