The Wilton Recycling Center is one spot of normalcy in a world where most daily routines have been disrupted by COVID-19.
Wilton Recycling Center Director Carol Burgess said the center is one of only a handful in the state that is still operating mostly as normal, still accepting all kinds of recycling and keeping normal operating hours.
The center has changed protocols to help protect workers and customers – workers wear masks and gloves, social distancing is observed, and they’ve requested people pay with check instead of cash, and are encouraging customers to deposit their recycling without socialization, but for the most part, Burgess said, it’s business as usual.
“People are happy to do it. If we felt uncomfortable, we would have made additional changes. None of us wanted to sit at home. As long as [my workers] are comfortable with it, we’ll continue,” Burgess said. “And people are so grateful. They say, ‘This is the one thing that’s been normal.’”
“We’ve been keeping it going,” agreed Bruce Hadley, one of the six staffers who run the Recycling Center. “None of us want to go home.”
“We’re just washing our hands, keeping our distance,” agreed Greg Porter, another Recycling Center employee.
Customers are taking their own precautions, Burgess said, and more are wearing masks than not, and many wear gloves of their own.
The Wilton Recycling Center serves Wilton, Mason, Temple, Lyndeborough and Greenville, and is not the norm among local centers, most of which have reduced hours, limited the types of recycling they are taking in, particularly kinds that must be sorted by workers, and taking similar social distancing precautions as those implemented in Wilton.
Scott Bradford of the Peterborough Recycling Center said in an interview Friday that he initially was advising people to hold onto their recyclables until the end of the crisis, if they were able. Now, he said, though it pains him, he’s telling people not to, because he fears that the center would be overwhelmed once normalcy returns.
The center is already struggling to keep up with its workload, Bradford said, particularly the Saturday rush.
The Jaffrey Transfer Station and Recycling Center is advising residents similarly – household recyclables are currently being disposed of in the compactor along with household trash, including cardboard, paper board, mixed paper, glass and all plastics, though the center’s COVID-19 advisory still encourages people to accumulate these materials at home if they wish.
It’s not just recycling that’s impacted. Bulky items, such as tires, electronics and other big items aren’t being accepted in many locations right now.
Bradford said it’s a safety precaution, as the transfer station crew must review all such loads for household waste, and eliminating those deposits for now is another way to reduce the possibility of infection.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.