The Rutland County Solid Waste District offers a variety of solid waste, recycling, waste education, household hazardous waste, composting and administrative support programs for our seventeen member municipalities. Some services are also available to non-District communities on a fee for service basis. In addition, the District operates a regional drop-off center and transfer station at Gleason Road in Rutland City. District program, facility and rate information is now available on our web site, www.rcswd.com.

Waste Disposal: During 2009, residents and businesses in our member municipalities disposed of approximately 36,000 tons of municipal solid waste; nearly all of this was through the District’s master disposal contract with Casella Waste Management. The cost of disposal, handling and transportation from the District Transfer Station at Gleason Road to the landfill was $75.45 per ton. State taxes, district surcharge and the Rutland City Host Community Fee totaled $23.97, for a final disposal cost of $99.42 per ton. Tonnage was down this year largely in part due to the downturn in the economy.

Recycling: The District owns a Material Recovery Facility (MRF), or recycling center, off West Street in Rutland City that is leased by Casella Waste Management for their operations. The MRF accepts seventeen recyclable commodities from transfer stations, commercial haulers and large generators for processing and sale for re-use. The facility currently receives approximately 17,000 tons of recyclables a year. The tonnage rate for recycling materials was also down for the year due to the economy. Casella Waste Management has been making upgrade improvements to the facility with the anticipation of converting the collection and processing to a single-stream system in the near future.

Household Hazardous Waste: Rutland County Solid Waste District operates an extensive Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) program for district residents. The program operates year-round from the Gleason Road facility, and scheduled collections at twenty town transfer stations through the spring, summer and fall. The HHW program collects and safely disposes of dozens of hazardous, flammable and toxic materials, anti-freeze, pesticides, used motor oil, asbestos, fluorescent tubes, computers and electronics. For 2009 the District collected and disposed of approximately 240,127 lbs of electronics, televisions and computers; 73,834 linear feet of florescent lamps; one hundred and twenty-two 55 gallon drums of paints, glycols, acids and aerosols etc. 57 gallons of Household pesticides plus misc. and other HHW; 711 refrigerators, air conditioners and other freon based units and 118 lbs of ballast and 118 lbs of batteries. This program had over 896 households (Tues – Thursday), and from the Saturday rural collections programs including SWAC towns, and 159 businesses participate in 2009.

Food Waste: The District in cooperation with the Rutland Natural Resources Conservation District have helped to oversee the collection of food waste from Hannaford’s to a local farmer in Danby for composting and ultimate reuse as fertilizer on the farm. Over 90 tons of food waste from this one store was diverted from going to the landfill

Other Programs: The District also offered other waste management, education and reduction programs, including construction and demolition waste, clean wood and composting. The District is continuing with its “Merry Mulch” program in collecting and processing over 1,200 Christmas trees annually. The District continued its “clean sheetrock” waste drywall recycle program for contractors and homeowners. This program originally started from a grant from the Agency of Natural Resources. The District also has been working with and providing recycling materials or information to various local organizations including the Rutland Master Gardener’s Club, the Rutland Dismas House, Rutland Neighborhood Program, Vermont Southwestern Council on Aging, Rutland Hospital and Women’s Network & Shelter and the Rutland County Humane Society.

In 2009 the District participated in several local programs including Green Up Day, the Rutland Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Show, the Long Trail Festival, Solar Fest and the first ever Trash to Art Program with Sustainable Rutland.

An additional highlight of 2009 is the District’s participation in the Vermont Product Stewardship Council (VTPSC). The Council was formed with the mission to shift Vermont’s product waste management system from one focused on government funded and ratepayer financed waste diversion to one that relies on producer responsibility in order to reduce public costs and drive improvements in product design that promote environmental sustainability. Founding members include the majority of the other Solid Waste District’s and Alliances in the state. Legislation on e-waste, paint and fluorescent bulbs are to be presented during the 2010 session.

James O’Gorman
District Manager