NORTH YARMOUTH — The town’s silver bullet recycling containers will be moved to the parking lot of the town office the week of Oct. 12 in what is hoped will be a money-saving measure.

The Board of Selectmen approved the move at its Sept. 16 meeting, according to Robert Wood, who serves both on the board and on the town’s Pay to Throw Committee. The containers have been at the fire barn, and the move to the town office is intended to reduce their use, Wood said, and in turn save transportation costs of $1,000 per month, since there would be less material to transport.

The containers duplicate the town’s weekly curbside trash pickup. Wood said elimination of the containers is being explored, too.

“If people consider it a good enough service for the town to pay for, then we would keep it on a reduced level,” he said. “In North Yarmouth, if you take your … recyclables down the driveway, it doesn’t cost anything extra, because we’re already paying for that service. But every time we fill up a silver bullet, it costs us $80 for the truck driver to take it into town.”

If recyclables can be redirected to the curbside program, the town will save money, Wood added.

The new container site will be for North Yarmouth residents and businesses only. A survey of 122 silver bullet users, conducted by volunteers and encouraged by the Board of Selectmen a month ago, determined that about 10 percent of users were not residents and that about six businesses use the site. While the majority used the containers and curbside recycling, many said they lacked sufficient information about curbside recycling, Wood said.

Information about curbside recycling is available on the town’s Web site, northyarmouth.org, or by calling 829-3705.  

Alex Lear can be reached at 373-9060 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net.


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