This Dump Plays Classical Music? (With Video)

For 30 years, the Madison/Guilford Transfer Station has been helping area residents by getting rid of everything from household trash to common recyclable items like bottles, cans, cardboard, and newspaper.

For about two years now, those activities have been done to the strains of classical music, thanks to an AM/FM radio that was dumped at the dump and promptly recycled.

And, since last month, electronic items including televisions and computers can be recycled free of charge. Before then, there was a charge for this but, thanks to a state  legislative initiative, disposal fees for electronic waste, or e-waste, are now assessed on equipment manufacturers instead of consumers.

E-waste law part of national trend

According to Tom Metzner, an environmental analyst at Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the initiative was passed in 2007 but was implemented only recently due to technical issues that needed to be resolved. The publication of the list of state-approved e-waste recycling companies on February 4 of this year marked the official launch of the program.

 Metzner said that the e-waste law is part of a nationwide trend to charge back recycling or disposal fees to the manufacturers of items deemed to be hazardous to the environment. He said the Connecticut state legislature is currently working on a disposal fee charge-back bill that would apply to paint manufacturers, and that similar bills covering other materials may follow.

Transfer station jointly funded by both towns

Opening its gates in 1981, the Madison/Guilford transfer center is jointly funded by both towns for the use of residents and businesses. Jim Portley, the town engineer for Guilford told us that in the fiscal year ending in 2010, the overall cost of operation of the facility was approximately $99,000. That cost was offset by about $45,000 in revenue received by the towns from recycling metals and other items for which there is a resale market.

The bulk of items coming in for recycling are bottles and cans, newspapers and cardboard for which there is no disposal fee. Disposal fees are collected for some items like tires and appliances.

Hours are Monday, Friday, Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Tuesday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The transfer station is closed Sunday and Wednesday. It is located on Route 1 in Guilford, just over the Madison town line, and just west of Exit 57 off of I-95. . For more information about the transfer station, you can check out the web page at http://www.madisonct.org/Public_Works/pubwrkstransfer.htm

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