Latest News
EPSOM, NH: The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), the largest and oldest cooperative-model recycling nonprofit in the United States, enables communities to manage their own recycling programs, in part, through its recycling education and technical assistance work. This fall, NRRA successfully wrapped up its Recycling Tools of the Trade project, made possible by a grant from the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
New Hampshire law states that each town must “provide a facility or assure access to another approved solid waste facility for its residents,” regardless of how big – or small – a town may be. NRRA partners with 85% of all towns and cities in NH, working primarily with small, rural municipalities. Through the Recycling Tools of the Trade project, NRRA launched several new recycling and solid waste diversion tools and resources with small towns in mind.
...Read more
by Hadley Barndollar, New Hampshire Bulletin
Coos County’s Mount Carberry Landfill took in more than 162 million pounds of construction and demolition debris in 2021. That, according to the Northeast Resource Recovery Association, means the disposal of wood, metal, sheet rock, shingles, asphalt, brick, and concrete was more than twice the amount of food waste landfilled there that same year.
Construction and demolition debris is often an overlooked contributor to landfill waste, said Reagan Bissonnette, executive director at the NRRA, and in the North Country, it’s an environmental justice issue.
This year, using a federal Healthy Communities Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NRRA worked with local officials, transfer station operators, and solid waste management stakeholders in 21 towns through a series of roundtables, site visits, pilot programs, and audits. The award of a second grant will expand construction and demolition...Read more
Welcome to the 42nd NRRA Annual Meeting!
All NRRA Members are cordially invited to join the trustees and staff of NRRA for the Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Wednesday, November 1st from 9am - 1pm at the Puritan Backroom Restaurant. (There will be an NRRA Board and Staff meeting immediately following from 1-2pm.)
There will be plenty of time for networking this year over morning refreshments and lunch. We will then have the opportunity to hear from the Voices of Experience panel as they reflect on the field of recycling and solid waste management - where it's been, where it's going, and most importantly, answering YOUR questions. We are also excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our members and vendors over the past year with our awards presentation. Finally, members will vote on renewing members for NRRA's Board of Trustees.
The NRRA is your organization,...Read more
The goal of the project is to enable communities to increase C&D and bulky waste diversion through reuse and recycling instead of landfilling. We anticipate short-term outcomes to include: (1) an increase by weight of C&D being diverted; (2) a reduction in pounds of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; (3) a reduction of C&D management costs; and (4) improved access to information and tools to increase C&D diversion.
Over the year-long course of the project, NRRA will: Convene three...Read more
The 2023 legislative session is complete. Here is a list of the House and Senate bills related to solid waste management and recycling in New Hampshire, as well as the outcome of the bills by the end of the session.
For updates on the current legislative session, please refer to our Policy and Legislation Page.
2023 Legislation 2023 House and Senate Bills SB159 : Relative to permits for the siting of new landfills. Sponsors: (Prime) Senator Donovan Fenton Passed House and Senate, Signed by Governor on 6/20/2023 SB211 : Relative to background investigations of solid waste and hazardous waste facility permit applicants. Sponsors: (Prime) Senator Howard Pearl Passed House and Senate, Signed by Governor on 6/20/2023 HB 253 : Establishing a committee to study extended producer responsibility. Sponsors: (Prime)Representative Lucius Parshall Passed both...Read more
By visiting individual transfer stations, NRRA is able to pull together different C&D challenges and opportunities that are unique to Coös County.
There are no local C&D recycling facilities in Coös County. The closest C&D recycling facilities are in southern New Hampshire and western Vermont, which is prohibitively far from Coös County. Because of this, C&D debris is primarily landfilled, with some facilities separating wood to be chipped and used as...Read more
This is a great opportunity to see where some towns' municipal solid waste (MSW) ends up and how a landfill is run. For those who came to the NRRA Annual Recycling Conference, you may have attended the popular workshop run by URT, so this is a great chance to see electronics recycling in action! And finally, touring a...Read more
Have you ever wondered about the process to plan and update a transfer station? Well, NRRA municipal member town, Swanzey, NH, has been documenting their Recycling Center building project construction on their town website and Facebook page, as well as physical postings at the facility. Their consistent updates help to increase resident education and maintain public support by inviting residents to learn more about the improvements, including the planning, process photos, and how the updated Center will provide environmental and economically sound benefits to the entire town.
The planning process took several years - starting prior to the COVID pandemic - and involved all stakeholders, including several conversations with NRRA's Member Services. The completed Recycling Center update will include 3 lanes for traffic - a "trailer lane" for elderly or disabled residents, or residents with a large amount of recyclables or non-sorted recyclables; a "fast...Read more
