Services > Recycling Committee
Andover residents bring their trash and recyclables to the Transfer Station on Rt 4 and 11 on the west side of town. The Transfer Station is open two days a week:
Wednesdays. 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in daylight savings periods (until 5:00 p.m. during standard time months) and Saturdays, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Andover is a member of the Concord Regional Solid Waste / Resource Recovery Cooperative (The Co-op) , a non-profit corporation formed in 1985 by the 27 participating communities to provide for the long-term disposal of solid waste through the construction of a centralized waste-to-energy facility. The Co-op entered into a long-term contract (20 years) in 1989 with Wheelabrator Concord Company for the construction, operation and maintenance of the facility. The facility derives its revenue from tipping fees paid by the participating communities for solid waste disposal, spot market tipping fees and from the sale of electricity to PSNH.
The Recycle Committee has been working to increase the recycling program in an effort to reduce the amount of waste trucked to the Wheelabrator incinerator. Working together with the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), Andover currently recycles glass/ ceramics, #1 PETE plastic containers, aluminum cans, tin cans, cardboard, mixed papers, florescent lights, thermostats and thermometers (containing mercury), print cartridges, automotive and rechargeable batteries, used motor oil and scrap metal. Electronics and construction debris are collected for a fee. Recycling of these materials is mandatory by order of the selectmen. The Transfer Station also collects paints (please see the attendant). Brush and unpainted wood go on the burn pile and yard waste goes on the compost pile. Hazardous waste is collected on a designated day once every two or three years. Please click here for a full list of recyclables.
The Swap Shop at the Transfer Station is open the first Saturday of the month from May through October. Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Items should be dropped off before 1:00, but residents are free to take items at no charge throughout the day. Reusable items in working condition are welcome: clothing, toys, books, bicycles, kitchenware, yard toys, etc. No upholstered furniture, electronics, windows, doors, tires or porcelain fixtures. The Swap Shop is run by the recycle committee and volunteers- more volunteers are always welcome!
Two important issues have been the main focus of the Recycle Committee this year. The first has been work on a long-range plan to improve the design of the Transfer Station. Traffic congestion, lack of storage space and the need to increase recycling require an improved design of the facility. The committee has visited more than 10 transfer stations around the state and studied many different facility designs in its effort to develop a 10-20 year plan for Andover's facility.
The other issue the committee is looking at is Single Stream Recycling (SSR). The Co-op has recently voted to construct an SSR facility to reduce the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of at the waste-to-energy plant in Penacook. Single Stream Recycling is a process where mixed recyclable materials are collected and transported in a single container to a facility where the materials are sorted and processed into marketable materials. The main advantages of SSR are the ease of recycling (all materials go unsorted into a single container at the Transfer Station), and an increase in the materials that can be accepted (plastics #1- #7, glass, tin, aluminum, mixed papers, cardboard). Each Co-op member community is looking at a financial analysis of participation in the SSR program and will be deciding whether or not to join the program. Andover is currently in the process of finalizing the financial analysis. Further information on all of these topics is available on the website of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association.
