Latest News

2/26/24

NRRA hosted a meeting of the Solid Waste Working Group (SWWG) at our office last week in the newly refreshed Member Operations & Marketing meeting room. We had 17 people attend in person, including several members of the public, with others joining remotely online. NRRA Executive Director, Reagan Bissonnette, had the opportunity to welcome the group to our office, introduce NRRA, and share some resources for municipalities available on the NRRA website. While the group previously learned about the NRRA Recycling 101 presentation , customizable recycling pamphlets (FREE to NRRA Members) , and Recycle Right materials , seeing them on the NRRA website generated more interest and led one committee member to compliment the resources and ask how they can be shared more broadly with NH communities.

The meeting included a presentation by Rob Watson of ...Read more

2/21/24

For over forty years, NRRA’s Recycling Conference & Expo has been a premier conference focused exclusively on municipal recycling and waste reduction in the Northeast. Hundreds of attendees, exhibitors, speakers and sponsors gather over two days to discuss the tools and skills necessary to build thriving municipal recycling and waste reduction programs in your community.

"Early Bird" registration for the 2024 Annual Recycling Conference is open and encouraged to ensure a spot during the following breakfast plenary panel discussions:

Food Waste Diversion & Composting

Join Jen Heaton-Jones, Executive Director of the Housatonic Resources Recovery Association (HRRA); Rhonda Whittier, Office Manager of the Pelham, NH Transfer Station & Highway Department; and Andrea Folsom, Communications Manager of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) for an introduction to the practical steps for starting a municipal food waste composting program or a food...Read more

2/2/24

If you are an NRRA municipal member who uses our cooperative marketing and purchasing benefit, you've always been required to abide by the NRRA Terms & Conditions . In the past, however, these stipulations have been located in various places.

To enhance accessibility and improve transparency, the NRRA Terms & Conditions have now been centralized on the NRRA website. By using NRRA cooperative marketing or purchasing programs, you are agreeing to the Terms & Conditions.

Moving forward, you will see reference to the Terms & Condition in new NRRA contracts, as well as a link in all confirmation emails and digital forms, as illustrated below.

View the Terms & Conditions

If you have questions about our Terms & Conditions, please contact the NRRA office at 603-736-4401 or email us at ...Read more

1/31/24
Of the over 20 solid waste-related bills proposed in New Hampshire that NRRA is tracking , one relevant for all NRRA members in New Hampshire is HB 1386 . The bill would prohibit the disposal of lithium-ion batteries in landfills, incinerators, and composting facilities , as well as prohibit the disposal of certain electronic devices.

Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable and found in cell phones, laptops, tablets, and more. According to a new report , more than 5,000 fires are estimated to occur annually at recycling facilities nationwide. Lithium-ion batteries are often the cause of such fires, including fires at transfer stations in New Hampshire.

The House Environment and Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing regarding HB 1386 on Tuesday, February 6 at 1:10pm at Legislative Office Building 301-303 in Concord.

While NRRA does not take...Read more

1/30/24
The NRRA Board of Trustees welcomes the Pelham, NH Transfer Station & Highway Department Office Manager, Rhonda Whittier , to the Board! We at NRRA are grateful for dedicated and experienced Board Members, such as Rhonda, who are committed to NRRA's mission of partnering to make recycling strong through economic and environmentally sound solutions. Rhonda has worked for the Town of Pelham, NH since 2016 and at the Transfer Station since 2018. As the Transfer Station and Highway Department Office Manager, Rhonda works closely with the Road Agent and Superintendent of the Transfer Station to keep both departments running smoothly, including providing support for grants and budgeting, as well as NHDES and Town annual reports. More recently, Rhonda has supported all aspects of establishing a new food waste diversion program in Pelham, from selecting a service provider to educating residents. Rhonda is certified as a Senior Principal Operator and a...Read more
1/11/24
The year, with support from a Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from the EPA, the NH Department of Environmental Services is updating the NH Climate Action Plan.

The goals of the New Hampshire Climate Pollution Reduction Program are to:

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions while supporting the creation of good jobs and lowering energy costs for families. Empower community-driven solutions in neighborhoods overburdened from pollution and impacts of climate change by directly seeking input from those communities. Under  Justice40 guidance , the program’s goal is to have 40% of overall benefits flow to these communities. Deliver cleaner air by reducing harmful air pollution in places where people live, work, play and go to school.

Part of this work is community engagement events through New Hampshire Listens to gather community feedback. Cross-sector stakeholder gatherings bring together...Read more

1/9/24
Join the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), the NH Department of Environmental Services, and Mark King of the Maine Compost School for a series of workshops on food waste diversion and composting on April 16th and 17th. With support from a USDA Rural Utilities Service grant, NRRA has teamed up to bring a series of workshops focused on food waste diversion this spring.

Even better, this workshop series is FREE! Workshops will address everything from the basics of food waste and food waste diversion to specifics on how to implement a food waste diversion program within your community, including outreach and community education.

WHO this is for:

We encourage facility or organization decisionmakers to attend these workshops, along with their operators (if the decisionmaker is not an operator) so lessons learned can turn into local action more quickly and easily.

Because of space restraints, attendance is...Read more

12/20/23
As 2023 comes to a close, we want to celebrate four NRRAnniversaries - staff members who have worked at NRRA for the past 5, 10, 15, and 20 years!

We asked Bonnie (20 years), Marilyn (15 years), Stacey (10 years), and Liz (5 years) to share the most exciting moment they've experience at NRRA, how they describe their work to friends, and why their work at NRRA matters to them. Let's hear what they had to say!

Bonnie & Marilyn
Bonnie Bethune and Marilyn Weir at the NRRA Annual Recycling Conference and Expo.

Senior Member Services Representative, Bonnie Bethune, has been with NRRA for 20 years and Finance Specialist, Marilyn Weir , has been with NRRA for 15 years. For much of that time Marilyn was a Member Services Representative, then retired for a time prior to rejoining NRRA part time in the finance...Read more

12/15/23

Last year, NRRA began these conversations about C&D Diversion with Coös County facilities . This year, we are excited to move forward and focus on new topics related to C&D diversion, including bulky waste diversion and reuse; asphalt, brick, and concrete (ABC) recycling; and the idea of deconstruction - plus lots more technical assistance opportunities.

At our first North Country C&D Diversion 2.0 Summit, we welcomed 10 new communities into the fold. Member Services Manager, Brian Patnoe, gave a brief overview of how this year's work differs from last, including two new feasibility studies looking into ABC crushing and C&D recycling backhauls, addressing bulky waste, exploring the idea of deconstruction, and several technical assistance opportunities.

The best part of the C&D Summit, as always, were the lively and engaging conversations! Operators raised several major concerns related to managing C&D in the...Read more

12/13/23
Recycling questions. We all have them! And living in a unique state like New Hampshire where each individual town and city is responsible for handling their own recycling (and no two towns do things the same) means that recycling questions can be especially confusing.

We've gathered some of the common questions we hear to help give you a sense of the recycling landscape in New Hampshire AND point you to some really great resources you may not know exist!

Why is recycling in my community the way it is? It's different in other towns, and I don't know why.

If your town is a member of NRRA (and 90% of towns in NH are!) then part of what our organization does is help your town with finding end markets for many of its recyclable items. The best place to start if you have questions...Read more

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