Recycle Barrels Working
by Solveig Torvik

The six recycling barrels placed in Winthrop by Recycle Roundup have kept some 80 to 90 garbage cans full of trash from going into the landfill over the last 24 weeks, according to Casey Bouchard, owner-operator of the firm.

Half of the waste in the barrels was recyclable plastic, he reported at the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce meeting in the Winthrop Barn Thursday. The rest was recyclable aluminum and glass.

Glass is a sort of necessary evil,” he said, alluding to its low value for recycling purposes; it costs $80 a ton to process, he explained. “There wasn’t a whole lot of glass,” he added. “So it was a good program.”

“The one at the Tenderfoot is always full,” Bouchard noted, while the one at the visitors’ center does not fill up. His firm emptied each barrel 35 times over the summer season, he added.

Recycle Roundup has an agreement with Methow Recycles in Twisp to deliver the recyclables it collects to the Twisp facility. “Our donations to Methow Recycles amount to about $400 per month,” Bouchard said.

The recycling barrel program is sponsored by 10 Winthrop merchants who paid an upfront fee of $100, plus a monthly charge of $15 to $25, in return for advertising space on the old wine barrels from Lost River Winery. Local artist Brad Pinkerton painted the advertising on the barrels.

Bouchard is expanding the program to Twisp, where he expects to have 12 barrels in various high-traffic locations around town. He said he also hopes to add a barrel by Winthrop’s new bridge. The upfront cost for merchants to participate is going up to $150, he said, and the monthly fee also is likely to increase.

10/17/11

Casey Bouchard, of Methow Recycle Roundup, and Nutmeg are pleased with the success of the Winthrop recycle barrel program. (photos: Solveig Torvik and Sheela McLean)