Dive Brief:
- MassRecycle has designed a pilot program that will install two 7-foot-tall recycling kiosks at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Alewife Station in Cambridge, MA. The program, in partnership with MBTA, the Massachusetts Beverage Association and Casella Recycling, has a long-term goal of increasing recycling in subway stations.
- Alewife Station has more than 11,000 visitors a weekday. The partners will evaluate the pilot program to see if it can be expanded to other subway stations.
- Casella Recycling will service the bins, and offered free design and marketing services and consultation. MBTA could increase revenue, if the plans are expanded, through increased advertising as well as adding valuable aluminum and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to recycling tonnages.
Dive Insight:
The MBTA, or T, as it's known, is taking the opposite tack from New York City's subway system, which is removing trash cans from stations in an effort to reduce trash and rodents. That program continues to be studied, though State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli recently trashed the effort, saying, "After four years, the best one can say about this experiment is that it's inconclusive, except for the fact that riders have a harder time finding a trash can."
MBTA is trying to make recycling on the go as easy as it is at home. Nicole Giambusso, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Beverage Association, told Recycling Today, "This pilot program targets a heavily traveled public space with education and accessibility, both of which are critical to any effort to increase recycling."
Education is always key, as consumers have been confused by some recycling rules in their areas. And MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola noted the importance of the public-private collaboration "for the betterment of Boston and surrounding communities.”
Boston continues to try new ideas regarding trash and recycling. It promotes a customer app called Trash Day, designed by ReCollect Systems. Residents can get trash and recycling collection schedules through the app.
At Boston Public Market, food vendors give leftovers to the market's nonprofit food rescue partners, The Greater Boston Food Bank and Lovin' Spoonfuls. Food scraps and other compostable material that is not donated will be composted through CERO, a Boston worker-owned cooperative.