REP. CAMILLO TOURS RECYCLING PLANT

HARTFORD- State Rep. Fred Camillo from Greenwich yesterday toured the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA)’s Single Stream Facility in Hartford. 

Single-stream recycling is the process in which paper and cardboard can be mixed with bottles and cans in a single recycling bin. Since single-stream recycling permits collection using 64-gallon wheeled barrels rather than the 14 gallon bins currently in use, people can now recycle more material. 

Previously, all recyclables delivered to CRRA had to be separated, with newspaper, junk mail, cardboard and other paper products brought to one portion of facility and bottles, cans jars and other containers brought to another portion. 

CRRA sells recyclables to companies on the open market and those companies then turns them into new product. The Hartford facility is taking single-stream deliveries from 59 cities and towns, with qualifying municipalities receiving rebates.  

Rep. Camillo said, “Single stream recycling is the way of the future. It makes it much easier for citizens to participate, incorporates more materials, and has proven to be a huge success in the places it has been implemented around the nation. If protecting the environment as well as becoming more financially efficient is the goals we are striving for, this concept is a winner.” 

Rep. Camillo added, “”While we are in dire economic times, the $6 million needed to retro fit the Bridgeport facility is an expenditure that will pay big dividends down the road. We need to find that money at some point to allow us to go to the next level in recycling.”