Latest News
Did you know that NRRA is filming a video about processed glass aggregate (PGA) and how it can be used in road and infrastructure projects? About 65 communities in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts participate in NRRA's PGA program, which enables communities to consolidate their glass bottles and jars at host sites. The glass is then crushed into an aggregate for local use.
Filming took place over three days at and around NRRA's PGA host sites in New London, NH and Rochester, NH. The film will be available this fall and will feature interviews with NRRA members about both their experience participating in NRRA's program and their experience using the resulting aggregate in municipal public works projects. This film with be a modern version of an older PGA film NRRA worked with New Hampshire the Beautiful to produce decades ago.
To...Read more
NRRA participated in the North Country Council's "Solid Waste in the North Country" event on August 19 for a discussion of solid waste management systems, the importance of recycling, and the general management of various types of waste in New Hampshire. The event was held remotely and the speakers included Reagan Bissonnette, NRRA Executive Director , Brian Patnoe, NRRA Board member and Solid Waste Manager for the Town of Littleton, NH, and staff from the NH Department of Environmental Services.
As part of her presentation, Reagan answered the following three questions for the nearly 30 attendees. A summary of her answers are included below.
What are you seeing or hearing in regards to how municipalities have adapted practices in response to COVID-19?
There was much uncertainty in mid-March at the beginning of the pandemic, and some communities stopped recycling all or...Read more
Did you know that July 28 is National Milk Chocolate Day? Our own Heather Herring, Education Manager, recently presented as part of Sustainability Day to members of the Lindt Chocolate Research and Development, Creativity, and Procurement Teams. They requested to learn more about where NH garbage goes and if recycling is really happening today. This young energetic group had lots of specific questions about the recycability of their candy wrappers, plastic trays, and packaging. They are looking into package design for their products and were recommended to consult with NRRA as part of Lindt's Sustainability Report priorities. NRRA was pleased to hear that a chocolate company was working on sustainability from cradle to grave.
To learn more about Extended Producer Responsibility, please register for NRRA's webinar on August 26th !Read more
The NRRA Board of Trustees would like to recognize and thank Lisa Stevens for her years of service to the Board. Lisa resigned from the Board of Trustees in June after serving on the Board for seven years, most recently as Treasurer.
When Lisa Stevens joined the NRRA board in 2013, she was the Treasurer at BCEP Solid Waste District, which serves the communities of Barnstead, Chichester, Epsom and Pittsfield. Lisa was later promoted to the position of District Administrator, which she currently holds. In addition to serving as NRRA’s Treasurer and providing input on NRRA’s budget and previously serving as Secretary, Lisa recently volunteered to serve on a working group of the Board tasked with reviewing salary and benefits for NRRA staff.
“NRRA thanks Lisa for her dedicated service to NRRA over the years,” said NRRA Board President...Read more
UPDATE July 28, 2020: Governor Sununu vetoed HB 1234 today, so the following bills will not become law this session.
The below news article was originally published July 26, 2020.
In the 2020 legislative cycle, numerous bills were proposed in New Hampshire that are relevant to NRRA’s members with respect to solid waste and resource recovery. Most bills were tabled due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see our March 16, 2020 legislative update for details about those original bills), but three were included HB 1234 , in an omnibus amendment that was passed by the the NH Senate on June 16, 2020 and concurred by the NH House on June 30. The omnibus amendment still must be signed by the Governor before these bills would become law. NRRA has provided a brief summary of the three solid waste bills included in the omnibus...Read more
Did you miss last month's free two-part contract negotiation webinar led by NRRA staff and hosted by the NH Department of Environmental Services? The recordings and handouts are available as part of NRRA's new Resource Library , which contains resources for NRRA members and the public, including webinar recordings, videos, and documents on a variety of recycling and waste reduction topics. The contract negotiation webinar description and links to each webinar are included below.
Does your municipality have contracts in place for solid waste services, include trash, recycling, and perhaps even composting? Would you like to understand the purpose and benefit of establishing such contracts and learn best practices for negotiating contract terms?
Join Reagan Bissonnette, Executive Director, and Bonnie Bethune, Member Services Manager of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association to discuss these topics. Reagan Bissonnette is an attorney with a decade of experience negotiating...Read more
NRRA offers a #1-7 baled plastics program for our members, which accounts for 25% of all plastics marketed for NRRA members in 2019. NRRA’s Vendor, Trigon Plastics in Newmanstown, PA, processes 90% of the #1-7 plastics on the East Coast making Trigon the largest buyer of #1-7 plastics in US!
What happens to the plastics once sorted at the plant?
• #1 PET (water bottle) is sold to manufacturers of carpet and clothing
• #2 HDPE Natural (milk jug) is pelletized and made into plastic lumber at Trigon and sold to Casual Living to be made into high end plastic furniture.
• #2 HDPE Mixed Color (laundry detergent bottle) is made into black drainage pipes, garbage container wheels, etc.
• #3-7 (which are mainly #5s and 7s) go to companies in Canada where they capture the #5 polypropylene and some of the 7s.
Here...Read more
NRRA is changing the benefits available to non-voting associate members to ensure that voting municipal members—for whose primary benefit NRRA was founded—receive the bulk of NRRA’s staff time and attention. Keep reading and see the full list of voting municipal member and non-voting associate member benefits for more information.
NRRA has two classes of members: voting members and non-voting associate members. Voting membership is available to municipalities, and non-voting associate membership is available to individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations.
Changes in Benefits:
NRRA’s bylaws give the NRRA Board of Trustees the authority to determine the privileges of each class and category of membership. On April 22, 2020, in accordance with NRRA’s bylaws, the NRRA Board of Trustees voted to change the privileges of associate members to the following:
Discounts available for: NRRA award winning annual conference Annual meeting, workshops, bus tours, and other...Read more
Did you know that NRRA's new website has a Resource Library full of resources for solid waste operators, most of which are available for free? The Resource Library contains recorded webinars, videos, and documents that can be filtered by specific resource topics. For example, solid waste operators in New Hampshire who want to see all NRRA webinars that qualify for continuing education credit can filter the Resource Library by the resource topic "NHDES Solid Waste Operator Continuing Education Credit" and choose from over 15 webinar recordings.
Here are examples of free webinars recorded in 2020 that qualify for credit:
Best Management Practices for Recycling Facilities During COVID-19 (April 15, 2020; 1 hr)
Is Recycling Still Worthwhile in New Hampshire? (January 30, 2020; 1 hr)
Let's Talk Trash - Solid Waste Challenges Facing Municipalities (January 15, 2020;...Read more
We are testing a new feature on our website, a Load Request Form . This form is quick and easy to complete either on your computer or from your smart phone. Just answer a few questions and submit the form and one of our NRRA logistics staff members will take care of your request. The form has already been tested by some of members who report that they find this a great alternative to calling or emailing. Give it a try and let us know what you think!