Recycling & Solid Waste Committee

Trash and recycling is picked up on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Click here for the Tuesday collection schedule.  Click here for the Wednesday collection schedule.
Click here for the list of streets being picked up from each scheduled day. 


Is it recyclable?  Search here:
* Recyclopedia
* DEP's Beyond the Bin


Trash Bag Policy.   Trash bag distribution schedule 2023.
How to get stickers to the Leverett Transfer Station (LTS).
Leverett Transfer Station website is here.  New LST price list is here.


Alert —
Home Depot no longer accepts fluorescent-tube bulbs, only compact bulbs.  Hadley Lowe's accepts fluorescent tube lights up to 6' in length.

Mattresses & box springs
Landfills and incinerators in Massachusetts do not accept mattresses and box springs.  Shutesbury residents will no longer be able to take these items to the Leverett Transfer Station.

Shutesbury residents can drop off all types of mattresses and box springs at the Wendell Transfer Station at 314 New Salem Road in Wendell for $35 per item.  The station is open Tuesdays 12:00 to 6:00 and Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  If you have questions, call Ray Stone, the Wendell Transfer Station Supervisor, at 1-978-544-7287. 

Many thanks to the good folks at the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District for setting this recycling program up and allowing Shutesbury residents to participate!

Textile Collection at the Highway Department
As of November 2022, all textiles are banned from trash disposal sites in Massachusetts, so these items need to be recycled.  Shutesbury is partnering with CMRK, a company that collects textiles andd other items at no cost — and will pay Shutesbury $0.07 per pound for these items.  You will see the big blue textile collection bin just inside the Highway Department yard on Leverett Road.

This arrangement with CMRK will help us keep textiles and other items out of the waste stream, help us pass on things we no longer need, and even make a few dollars for our town.

Lists of acceptable and non-acceptable textile items can be found here.


Alert —  
Fluorescent bulbs will no longer be collected in Town HallThermometers, thermostats, rechargeable batteries of all sizes, button batteries, and ballasts are still being collected at Town Hall.  Receptacles are downstairs in the hallway across from the stairway.  (Lowe's recycles compacts bulbs and tubes up to 6' long;  Home Depot recycles only compact bulbs, no tubes). 

What REALLY happens to your recycling?  Take a look behind the (recycling) curtain at Recycle Smart.

Check out Recycle Smart's monthly newsletter for answers to the top recycling questions of 2021!

How much stuff do Americans throw away?  Check out U.S.PIRG's look at trends in waste over the past three years — and click on the arrows for full effect of the dynamic graphics!
 


idea lightbulb  Want to reduce your stash of paper grocery bags?
 Take them to the Library so they can be re-used in curbside pickup!

 


Recycling and trash figures for Calendar Year 2023
(January through December 2023)

Shutesbury residents collected 170.88 tons of recyclable materials in CY 2023 — 82.53 tons of bottles & containers and 88.35 tons of paper.

Shutesbury residents discarded 319.98 tons of trash in CY 2023.

Total waste stream = recycled materials + trash = 490.86 tons.

Recycled materials as percent of total waste stream = 34.81% (a decrease of 0.24% from 2022).

By recycling those 170.88 tons of material, Shutesbury residents saved the Town $15,614.77 money we didn't have to spend in trash disposal fees in 2023!

 

Take A Recycling Quiz