Milford Recycles

How do I get a new bin?

The Milford Department of Public Works switched to a single-stream recycling program in August of 2011. All Milford households that currently have their recyclables picked up by the DPW should have received a pre-assembled green bin sometime between July 11th and July 29th, 2011.
These bins were delivered by representatives of the Toter company to your front yard, as near to your current recycling pickup location as practical. Your bin should contain a packet of introductory papers that provides information about the bin itself and about the single stream recycling program. Please read the enclosed information carefully as it will explain many of your questions. In addition, you will receive a sticker detailing what may and may not be recycled. You can apply this sticker to the lid of your bin as a handy reference.
Each bin has a serial number that is recorded by the Toter Company and maintained at the Department of Public Works. Please note that the bins are property of the City of Milford and are given to residents for use in the single stream program. While the bins are virtually indestructible, you are responsible for keeping them in good working order.
These bins should never be used for garbage. The DPW collects your recyclables and your pick-up day occurs on the same day on an “every other week' schedule. Once you have switched to the new, larger bin, you may use your current small blue recycling bin for other purposes.

Just how big is the Big Green Bin?
With the start of single stream recycling, many communities decided on various systems and bins to contain and pick up the increased amount of recyclable materials. In Milford, after considerable research, the decision was made to purchase 96 gallon lidded bins on wheels. The green colored bins have a handle that will allow the DPW trucks to lift them mechanically - eliminating weight limits on the load. In addition, this pick up method protects the health and safety of our DPW employees.
There had been concern among some citizens that the bins may be too large for their needs or space. However, the bins are the perfect size for the job they are required to do - which is, to contain many more items as well as to handle a larger variety of items. This is now possible because most of the items that residents used to be put in the garbage, can will now be recycled. Each resident's trash load should shrink by at least 50 percent which means you can conveniently store the new recycle bin in the same location where you once stored a trash can. In addition, your property and neighborhood will remain cleaner as recyclables will no longer be blown out of the smaller, unlidded containers.
The green bin can accommodate all plastics #1-7, which include things like yogurt containers, cottage cheese containers, water bottles and deli containers. All corrugated and chipboard items including things like cereal and juice boxes, tissue boxes, paper egg cartons, pasta boxes, shoe boxes and packing boxes are also allowed. Residents will be able to throw in newspapers, magazines, junk mail, catalogs, paper bags and all school and office papers. Additional items that can go in the bin are tin and steel cans, aluminum foil and empty glass jars and bottles.
All of these items can be placed in the big, green bin to be kept clean and dry for the “every other week” pick-up schedule that is already in place. There will be no need to sort or carry; no need to contain items in plastic bags - just drop all of these items into the bin and roll it to the curb on your appointed pick-up day. The bin can be easily handled by young children as well as adults and seniors.

Why did Milford Start This New Recycling Program?
While most people can agree that recycling is the right thing to do in theory, there are immediate and practical reasons to do this, too.Milford pays almost $5 million dollars per year for garbage hauling, disposal and related fees, including labor. Just over $2 million dollars of this is directly related to hauling and disposing of this garbage. The cost for garbage disposal (the 'tipping fee') is based upon weight, so reducing the total weight of all garbage will result in direct savings on the cost of hauling and in reduced tipping fees.Last year, Milford produced a total of 13,411 tons of waste material, of which 2,575 tons (16.1% of total waste) was recycled. Increasing the total amount of recycled material to 4,575 tons (28.6% of total waste) would result in a savings of around $330,000 per year in trash disposal costs. Based on statistics for other Connecticut cities that have adopted a similar program, this is not an unreasonable goal.In addition, the new program will bring automated lifters to the recycling collection trucks, which is projected to save over $30,000 per year in workers' comp claims.
If we can maintain this rate of recycling each year, the program will pay for itself within 5 years.We have an opportunity to save over $360,000 per year simply by using this new recycling bin.

Materials Not Accepted

• Bags inside cereal boxes
• Black plastic, no matter what recycle number
• Plastic bags of any type or recycle number
• Plastic bottle caps
• Juice pouches
• Ice cream cartons
• Medicine bottles
• Aerosol cans containing toxic pesticides
• Aerosol cans containing toxic paint
• Shredded paper
• Styrofoam packing peanuts
• Clothing