Mobile Recycling Center ($75,000)

Committee: Environment

Cost: $75,000

Location: Locations citywide for three years.

Short Description: Instead of going to the Recycling Center, let the Recycling Center come to you! At community events, the Mobile Center can help residents recycle items without have to cross the city. Help recycle items like e-waste, books, batteries, plastic bags, and more.

Long Description:

Residents want to get rid of hard-to-recycle items properly but for many it is difficult to get to the Recycle Center in Inman Square due to its location and limited hours. A mobile Recycle Center would make keeping hard-to-recycle items (i.e. e-waste, non-alkaline batteries, metal, and plastic film) out of the trash easier, particularly for those without a car.

The mobile Recycle Center would involve 6-12 events during the summer around the City. This program would also increase awareness of what can be recycled, and share information on other waste programs. Having easy access to dispose of batteries properly is especially important because there has been an increase in fires in trash trucks and waste disposal facilities due to improper disposal of lithium-ion batteries. The budget will fund the purchase of a few receptacles to gather waste at the events, overtime costs for DPW employees, and to pay for added disposal and hauling costs. 

This type of mobile recycling center is already employed in many other communities across the country and beyond. This project was featured in the 2019 Zero Waste Master Plan 1.0 (pp. 17-18), and is featured in the 2025 updated Plan, Zero Waste Master Plan 2.0. Lastly, to make this project as sustainable as possible, we intend to use an electric vehicle and purchase waste receptacles made from 100% recycled content for the mobile Recycle Center.

A DPW trailer vehicle that could potentially be used to haul hard-to-recycle items at the proposed events.	The current hours and signage of the DPW Recycle Center.