The former supervisor of the Greenfield transfer station has taken up a new post at the Wilton Recycling Center.
Carol Burgess, the new director of the cooperative recycling center, which serves Wilton, Greenville, Mason, Temple and Lyndeborough, says she was ready to take on a new challenge.
Wilton Town Administrator Paul Branscombe said the recycling center has been without an official manager since November when former Department of Public Works Director Jim Lavecchia left. Since that time, a transfer station employee has been the acting supervisor and Branscombe has overseen the department.
The department had an empty attendee position, and Burgess applied, Branscombe said. “I said, ‘You’re probably too qualified for this position.’ … And that’s when it clicked, that she would be perfect in the manager position.”
Though Burgess has only been on the job for a few weeks, she’s already busy making improvements.
“People have been up there and are amazed at the cleanliness and her vision for the future,” Branscombe said. “We’ve been very pleased.”
Burgess left her position in Greenfield in August, and took up the Wilton post on Sept. 10.
As the director, Burgess plans to take on much of the administrative work of the center, including drafting its budget but said she also has plans to help improve processes at the facility, such as making safety upgrades and improving traffic flow.
“This was one of the first recycling centers in New Hampshire. We want to bring it back to the glory days,” Burgess said.
While the center has been without a director since December, the staff is experienced and has been with the center for a long time, Burgess said.
“All these guys have been here a long time, and they know their jobs,” Burgess said. “It makes it easy for me.”
Burgess said she started in the business as a “picker” – looking for discarded treasures – and spending a lot of time at her own local transfer station. She began working part-time at her first recycling job in Brookline, where she lives, in 2003. She’s since worked in the centers in Hollis and Amherst, and since 2010 has been the supervisor at the Greenfield center.
“The more I learned about it, the more committed I’ve become to the environment, recycling and working with the public,” Burgess said.
Burgess said recycling centers should be places “people want to come to” – places where they can stop and chat with neighbors as well as process their recyclables.
“When you drive down the driveway, your first impression should be of a welcoming place. That’s what I want,” Burgess said.
She’s already started to make some improvements in that vein – painting and adding some new plantings at the center.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.