AMHERST — As a community that values the environment, Amherst has taken steps to bring solar panels to the capped landfills, put energy-efficient bulbs in streetlights and purchase electric vehicles for town departments.
But cutting back on the amount of solid waste produced by residents, businesses and municipal and school entities has yet to be a focus for greening the town.
Members of the Recycling and Solid Waste Management Committee hope that will soon change with Monday’s go-ahead from the Select Board to begin soliciting feedback to its so-called zero-waste management plan, an 18-page document that provides a blueprint for significantly reducing what ends up being thrown away.
“It is urgent that we dramatically reduce our solid waste,” said committee Chairman John Root.
Observing that incinerators and landfills release pollutants and are often sited near low-income and minority populations, Root said committee members felt it was their obligation and responsibility to propose ideas that would get the community to better practice the concepts of reducing, reusing and recycling.
“Zero waste — or darn close — is quite realistic,” Root said.
The main effort will come through a combination of measures that begins with solid waste education and a full-time employee to coordinate this.
While Root had hoped the document could be adopted as written, the Select Board instead asked that the committee begin a 60-day process to get feedback from those who would be affected by its contents, including trash haulers and restaurants, and those who would have to set any rules guiding trash, such as the Board of Health.
Select Board member Constance Kruger said the plan would benefit from more inclusive public comment, such as restaurant owners who might be upset if they are forced to compost all food waste they produce.
“There are a bunch of places where it says requirements, fines, and it talks a lot about goals of removing organics from the waste system,” Kruger said.
Her own observations is that composting food waste is difficult for residents, and even harder for restaurants.
But Andrew Steinberg, Kruger’s colleague on the board, said he was less worried that the plan would make immediate changes.
“It does require actions by this board and other boards to make this happen, and requires a lot of steps along the way,” Steinberg said
Peter Hechenbleikner, interim town manager, said the plan is a vision and a road map.
“The goals, I think, are laudable,” Hechenbleikner said.
But he added that some ideas embedded in it, like going to a single trash hauler for the town, would not be financially feasible. As it is now, most residents contract with one of three haulers for removal of trash and recyclables.
“One of the difficult things with this master plan is we’re not starting from a very good place,” Hechenbleikner said.
The financial limitations include hiring a person to oversee the educational campaign. The town is currently seeking a state grant to pay for a solid waste enforcement person who would make sure recyclables aren’t ending up with trash, but that person wouldn’t have time to also handle outreach related to zero waste.
The plan was first requested by late Town Manger John Musante in 2014 and was scheduled to be presented at a Select Board meeting last fall. Though the outreach to the community means a delay, Root said he is delighted that the committee can solicit opinions.
“I’m quite pleased it happened the way it did,” Root said.
He said the committee will explain why a waste reduction manager is necessary, even though recycling coordinator Susan Waite left her position more than a year ago when it lost funding.
“We feel strongly that it’s not only necessary to reinstate, but to become full time to guide and implement,” Root said.
Root said the committee will also examine if it is plausible to create a pay-as-you-throw system, in which customers would purchase bags for disposing trash.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
