New outdoor recycling barrels in Burlington

Visitors to Burlington will now notice a new addition next to all the town’s outdoor trash barrels – a tall green metal bin with a very visible recycle symbol on it for the disposal of bottles and cans.
According to Recycling Committee Chair Gretchen Carey, 100 of these new recycle bins were purchased for a total cost of $17,000 which was completely funded by Burlington’s Department of Public Works, using funds from the recycled cardboard and paper account.
“As recycling has increased due to the automated trash system, we recycle more paper. The amount more than doubled this year. Now we have funds and what better place to use funds than to do more recycling,” said John Sanchez, superintendent of the Department of Public Works.
Carey said she initiated the request to purchase the bins because she heard residents complaining they wanted to recycle at outdoor facilities, but couldn’t.
The new recycle bins are located next to trash barrels at all Burlington’s parks, fields and outdoor areas such as the Town Common.
Each of them cost $170, said Carey. She chose the style because it is a see-through basket and thought it would help people understand what they are supposed to throw into it.
“It’s sturdy. It will last. I like the symbol on the side. The lid has a smaller hole so you can only throw certain types of things in,” said Carey.
The bins arrived the week of April 26 and the Recreation Maintenance Superintendent Doug Gillingham has already noticed them getting filled, although he has also noticed some of them had trash mixed in with the bottles and cans.
“It’s going to be a learning process. People aren’t used to it. They have a tendency to throw all trash in barrels, “said Gillingham.
“We’ve done what we can and now we need to ask the public to use them appropriately and frequently,” said Carey.
The Recycling Committee’s next project is to make sure every classroom in Burlington has recycling bins for paper and plastic. The Burlington Rotary Club is donating $1,300 for the purchase of 200 bins for all the schools to use, in addition to the bins they currently use, said Carey.
Her Committee is also planning a “Greening Burlington Day” to take place this summer, “a town clean up day,” said Carey.
For more information about the Burlington Recycling Committee or to join, visit www.burington.org/Recycling/index.html.