Westwood DPW Launches Resident Education Campaign in Hopes of Avoiding Fee for Contaminated Recycling

A recent Waste Management audit has found that contaminants in the Town of Westwood’s recycling are now at a relatively high level, which may trigger increased recycling processing costs and therefore a contamination fee to the town and residents, according to Brendan Ryan, Assistant Director/Operations Manager of Westwood Department of Public Works (DPW).

Compared to a prior audit by Waste Management (WM), the town’s contractor for trash and recycling pick-up, the recycling contamination rate for Westwood increased from 9 percent to 17 percent. At a 9 percent contamination rate, the town was not subject to a contamination fee. However, the 17 percent is considered too high and could result in additional costs to the town and residents, if not corrected when the next audit is conducted about six months from now.

While Mr. Ryan has not yet quantified the exact increased cost of a contamination fee, he notes that it would have an impact on Westwood’s budget. “It will be an additional charge we haven’t seen for years,” he said.

However, he is optimistic that Westwood residents can correct the problem and avoid increased costs. “WM has a become a great partner with us to try to fix it,” he says. “They realize this is something we can correct.”

Along with educating residents, the solution includes drivers being aware of what is being picked up before receiving items in their trucks, targeting education to households with recurring recycling problems, and even a knock on a door when there’s a problem to address.

“I have found that sometimes residents just don’t have room in their trash cart, so they just throw additional trash in recycling, thinking it’s all one stream to one facility. And that’s not the case,” says Mr. Ryan.

Plastic bags and trash bags are the “largest offenders” that residents have been placing into recycling, says Mr. Ryan. “A lot of times, residents bag recycling items in the house, and then just throw the plastic bag into the recycling container, thinking everything is recyclable, when in fact, it is not,” he says. “That practice, we’re looking to move away from. Any plastic . . . those are hindrances to processing at the plant,” he says.

Crystal plastic holiday lights may be recyclable, but the cords they are attached to can become tangled in machinery at the recycling plant. The best answer is to throw those into the trash, not recycling, notes Mr. Ryan.

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Other contaminants in Westwood’s recycling stream include food items, Styrofoam, and baby items – even car seats, according to a bulletin
by the Town of Westwood. The town notes that only clean food containers and packaging should be recycled.

Mr. Ryan explains how contaminated recycling can increase processing costs. After residents put recycling into receptables for WM to pick up, that recycling is transported to a plant where the items are put on a conveyer belt. Workers remove contaminants from the recycling stream by hand. Certain items may be tough to grab – trash bags, cords that get tangled, clothes hangers. Those items can get trapped in the processing machinery, causing a slow-down or shut-down of the entire process.

Because time is money, that delay is costly to WM, which will pass along the costs to the town and residents, says Mr. Ryan. Additionally, if the contamination is too great, the recycling plant can reject the entire load, also proving costly.

The increase in contamination appears not to be a sudden occurrence, but one that has developed over time. As a community which was “doing the right thing” for many years in keeping its recycling contamination rate at acceptable levels, WM “pushed our audits down the line,” said Mr. Ryan. When the recent audit was again conducted after an extended time had passed since the last audit, WM found a significant increase in contamination rate.

“We could have done a better job with education,” states Mr. Ryan. He notes that there was concern and a fine line with getting out a message effectively and inundating people with the message so frequently that they will stop paying attention and stop listening. 

DPW is now making a concerted effort to make sure all residents are aware of the importance of reducing contamination in Westwood's recycling. Mr. Ryan encourages parents to talk to their children to educate them on what is recyclable and vice versa. Kids can also educate their parents. He hopes it becomes a loop where each reinforces the other.

Residents with questions about what can be recycled can visit the Recyclopedia Coach interactive tool on the Town of Westwood’s website for more information. Visitors to that page can type in the item they have a question about recycling, and hitting the search button will bring up information on how to treat that item. The tool also contains a link for downloading the Recycle Coach app. The Town of Westwood has also posted a WM summary of items which categorizes specific, common items as “always recycle,” do not recycle, and common contaminants.

Residents who need more room to hold their trash or recycling can contact DPW to purchase an extra barrel. Trash receptacles are $150 annually and recycling receptacles are a one-time fee of $60. Overflow trash bags are available in a bundle of five 33-gallon capacity bags, which cost $10 and are sold at Roche Bros., Walgreens, and Town Hall in Westwood.

Thanks to Brendan Ryan, Assistant Director/Operations Manager and Kerry Higgins, Administrative Assistant at Westwood Department of Public Works, for speaking with Westwood Minute.

Updated 12/12/2023 at 1:25 p.m. Edits for clarity and hyperlinks to resources have been added.

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