Since 1981 & First in the Nation. Partnering to make recycling strong through economic and environmentally sound solutions. Members Helping Members

Transcription

1 2010 Annual Report Since 1981 & First in the Nation Partnering to make recycling strong through economic and environmentally sound solutions Members Helping Members

2 Our History Over 29 years ago, four New Hampshire municipalities joined forces to form the first-in-the-nation municipal recycling cooperative. The goals of NRRA were to pool recyclable commodities in order to maximize pricing, provide educational and networking opportunities to members and to help communities stay on the cutting edge of the latest recycling trends. Having far surpassed those goals, NRRA now serves more than 360 municipal and business members throughout greater New England. Unlike traditional brokers, NRRA does not charge a costly brokerage fee to members to market their recyclables but rather a minimum NRRA fee is collected to reinvest into recycling and solid waste services for members! From Your BOARD OF TRUSTEES PRESIDENT Phew! What a ride 2010 has been. Working in the waste/recycling industry is NEVER boring. The NRRA continues to have a very strong presence in the Northeast recycling market. This strength starts with the confidence of its members. Membership stretches as far south as Connecticut. No other organization provides the number of services that the NRRA is providing to its members. Services provided range from Freon extraction to recycling of cardboard. This year, the Association responded to its members and now provides competitive pricing for MSW disposal and Single Stream recycling. Members are represented by a group of volunteers, making up the Board of Trustees. The Trustees are working hard to meet the needs of all members; both large and small. Sub-committees are also evaluating the Association s bylaws to respond to the changing times, looking towards to future to meet the recycling needs of its members, reviewing the finances to ensure that every dollar is spent with a philosophy of stewardship and working with staff to guarantee that our services can t be beat. The Association staff works hard for its members. They are always looking for new ways to meet their needs. Recently, the NRRA has partnered with the Association of Vermont Recyclers to increase outreach to schools throughout the Northeast. A grant has also been received to increase site visits to communities to provide some personal technical assistance. I am proud to be a part of this organization where everyone involved is valued and where solutions are born out of a spirit of collaboration. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to an exciting Marc Morgan Highlights FROM ANOTHER GREAT YEAR! The Annual Compost Bin Sale was held in celebration of Earth Day 2010 to support nature s way of recycling! Over 60 organizations in 5 states participated in the sale this year with 1,572 compost bins being sold! Each bin diverts approximately 500 pounds of organic matter from household waste per year, diverting it from collection, the landfill or incinerator. This year s sale will help divert a total of over 786,500 pounds of waste, which is the equivalent of 34 garbage trucks full of waste! Also sold this year were 532 Systern rain barrels, which helps households conserve municipal water supplies and lowers their water/sewer bills and 587 kitchen pails. Plan to participate in the Earth Day 2011 campaign! The 29th Annual Conference and Expo saw its recent record from 2009 eclipsed with over 470 attendees from municipal recycling operations around the Northeast attending cutting edge workshops recycling issues. This year marked the first-ever Northeast School Recycling Conference. Concurrent workshops ranging from Sustainable School programs to Toxins in Schools, and Composting were offered. The standing room only attendance at both sets of workshops were a testament to the range of topics offered and the interest level in continuing to constantly improve recycling throughout the Northeast. Thank You Again to our 2010 Conference Sponsors! PLATINUM SPONSORS Empire Recycling New Hampshire the Beautiful, Inc. GOLD SPONSORS Bestway Disposal Services ERRCO/ LL&S New England Baling Wire, Inc. Universal Recycling Technologies SILVER SPONSORS Alexander Industrial Technologies, Inc./ Recycle USA, LLC BDS Waste Disposal, Inc. Call2Recycle Casella Waste Systems, Inc. Concord Regional Solid Waste Cooperative EQ - The Environmental Quality Company Interstate Refrigerant Recovery, Inc. J.P. Routhier & Sons, Inc./ Recycle America Enterprise, LLC Laconia Savings Bank Maguire Equipment Norseman Environmental Products, An ORBIS Company Northstar Recycling Group Office Paper Recovery Systems, Inc./ The Storage Cube Paper Retriever Recycling Resource Recycling Magazine RMG Enterprise, Inc. Schnitzer Northeast Scotia Recycling Limited Veolia Environmental Services Waste Management, Inc.

3 From Your EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Fiscal year 2009/2010 closed on September 30 and recorded another year of great work by the entire NRRA team. Last year began with a massive upgrade of the database that Colleen Conway managed to implement single handedly. Going from version 5 to 10 and retooling the structure at the same time, took three months of work over and above her normal accounting and human resource responsibilities, and she brought us through with flying colors. Reports are now much easier to produce and the data allows for quicker responses when issues do arise. Thank you Colleen and thank you Bev Pfeifer and Linda Garland for their outstanding dedication to accounting detail throughout the year! Bonnie Bethune, Adam Clark, and Marilyn Weir in Member Services continued to redefine their outreach efforts and up-to-the-minute pricing work while researching new programs for all commodities, providing ongoing technical assistance, and continuing the excellent Consolidation program. They continue to outperform any other customer service group around in their dedication to find the best solutions for you the members. Look for them to continue to help you with all your materials from MSW, C&D, Single Stream, and the entire gamut of recyclables from Fiber to Freon removal. A huge effort each year for NRRA is its administrative work, and Jan Carter once again has gone above and beyond. She has managed all of the NH the Beautiful sign and grant applications, the recycling bin and ClearStream orders, and the check presentations. In addition, she orders and arranges delivery for hundreds of compost bins and rain barrels, publishes the Full of Scrap e-newsletter every two weeks, and even hitches up the RecycleMobiles! Fortunately for NRRA, Paula Dow has returned and is lending her years of experience to help Jan, our recycling efforts, and the history of NRRA, which will be showcased at the conference. Kelly Pearson s efforts all year long to support the School Recycling Club, along with the rest of NRRA s graphics, web design and IT issues is on a par with the high quality work of the rest of the team. Kelly has been instrumental in bringing the recycling message to many more schools with the grateful support of NH the Beautiful. NRRA was fortunate, thanks to its collaboration with the Association of Vermont Recyclers and Executive Director Norm Staunton s grant writing expertise, to receive an EPA 1 Grant and a USDA Grant, to add to the generous grant from New Hampshire the Beautiful for the School Recycling Club. The first-ever Northeast School Recycling Conference saw over 110 students, teachers, and administrators from around the region converge at the June Conference in Manchester. Be sure to mark your calendars now for next June 6 and 7, 2011 when NRRA will celebrate 30 years of members helping members at the Diamond Jubilee conference. Thirty years of recycling and resource recovery history will be on display along with outstanding workshops and a packed exhibit hall. All in all, it has been a busy year and I expect the coming year to be just as busy and productive. Thanks to the NRRA staff and an extremely active and supportive Board of Trustees, NRRA continues its long tradition of helping members, day in and day out, in good markets and challenging ones. It has been my pleasure to be a small part of this outstanding NRRA team and for that opportunity I am truly grateful. Michael Durfor NRRA Officers Marc Morgan, President James Tessier, Vice President William Hochstin, Secretary Roger Rice, Treasurer NRRA Trustees John M. Halstead, PhD David Hartman John Hurd Charles Kelley David A. Krisch Gordon Martin George Murray Dennis Patnoe Patrick Pinkson-Burke Sarah Silk Dee Treybig Duncan P. Watson Don Maurer, Ex-Officio NRRA Staff Mike Durfor Executive Director Jan Carter Administrative Manager Paula Dow Office Manager Kelly Pearson School Recycling CLUB Coordinator/ Graphic Designer FINANCE Colleen Conway Finance Manager Beverly Pfeifer Accounts Manager Linda Garland Finance Assistant MEMBER SERVICES Bonnie M. Bethune Member Services/ Operations Manager Adam Clark Member Services/Operations Marilyn Weir Member Services/Operations

4 Your TREASURER S REPORT Beginning the year with a fresh look at an expanding market, the NRRA worked harder than ever to end the year on a positive note to realize a surplus of $14,150. The NRRA staff worked diligently along with the Executive Director to establish a formidable place in the market for its Members. The Capital Reserve Fund, created for long-term building maintenance and upkeep expenses is holding strong at $17,163. The year began by presenting some challenges in the industry and the Association now provides services in Single Stream Recycling and MSW, which have helped the Association remain in a strong financial position. We look forward to working with you to produce another successful year. Roger P. Rice NRRA s Cooperative Partners Resource Recycling Magazine Maine Resource Recovery Association Members Helping Members REVENUES Carryover Funds from Prior FY $0 0% Membership $72, % Conference $109,585 13% Consulting/Contracts $31, % Compost Bin Sale $108, % Rural Development Grant $0 0% Co-op Marketing Fees $447, % Interest Income $ % Fundraising/Donations $5, % Lease Income $32, % Technical Assistance/CLUB Grants $31, % Prior Year Grant Funds Carryover $0 0% Total Income $840, % OPERATING EXPENSES Salaries/Fringe* $547, % Consulting Services $14, % Mortgage/Utilities $61, % Printing/Copying/Postage $7, % Accounting/Legal $8, % Supplies $7, % Publications/Dues/Fees/FR $3, % Miscellaneous $0 0% Fundraising (Direct Expenses) $5, % Travel/Meetings $6, % Conference $52, % Office Equipment (Expense) $12, % Insurance $5, % Advertising $0 0% Compost Bin Sale (Direct Expenses) $83, % Bldg./Grounds/Equip. Maintenance $5, % Property Taxes $6, % Prior Year Grant Funds Carryover $0 0% Total Operating Expenses $826, % Net Surplus (loss) $14,150 Please note: These are preaudited figures. *Indirect program costs are included in Salaries/Fringe.

5 Your MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT 32,832 The Monthly Members/Operations Marketing Committee Meeting (affectionately called the M.O.M. meeting) is held the 2nd Wednesday of the month (except for June/August/December in 2010). Facility Operators, Town Administrators, Selectboard Members, Recycling Committee Members and Teachers are encouraged to attend for up-to-the-minute information about recyclables markets and NRRA programs, as well as, to network with other operators/members on the day-to-day recycling challenges in the field. M.O.M. Meetings are typically held at the NRRA offices at 2101 Dover Road in Epsom, NH In May 2010 s M.O.M. meeting, a lively discussion regarding Single Stream Recycling was well-attended and informative. In September 2010, a Non-Ferrous Scrap Metal Workshop was held during the meeting with training on separation of aluminum, copper, wire, etc. from scrap metal to increase revenue at facilities/businesses. In October 2010, the M.O.M. Meeting was on the road for a tour of URT, Universal Recycling Technologies in Dover, NH, one of NRRA s electronics recyclers. M O M Membership: The M.O.M. Committee is one way of keeping information current and flowing between Committee/NRRA Staff and all 300+ members. Operations: The M.O.M. Committee also offers support to members by sending out a SWAT Team (Solid Waste Advisory Technician) upon request to walk through facilities and share collective knowledge and ideas with other members. Marketing: The M.O.M meeting continues to give support and timely updates to membership as markets fluctuate and new programs, such as Single Stream Recycling and MSW, come on board. Please make sure to join us at our meetings, which are regularly attended by town employees, elected officials, administrators and representatives from the private sector. Our M.O.M. meetings are held the 2nd Wednesday of the Month at 9:30 am at the NRRA Offices on Dover Road in Epsom (with the exception of June when the Conference is held, August due to busy summer schedules for NRRA Staff and Members and October for a Facility Tour/Meeting, and December due to the Holidays). Please see our newsletter, notifications or website for information on these meetings. Adam Tasker, Chairperson NRRA 11,555 10,470 Marketing Tonnages 10/1/09 through 9/30/10 Other Marketed Recyclables Asphalt Shingles Batteries Cell Phones Fluorescent Bulbs/ Ballasts Freon Marine Shrink Wrap Mercury Added Products Propane Tanks Rechargeable Batteries Vegetable Oil 6,159 3,716 2,425 1,581 1,353 1,215 1, Fibers Scrap Metal Mixed Glass Construction & Demolition Single Stream Commingled Plastics Tin & Alum. Cans Electronics In Fiscal Year 2009/2010 NRRA assisted its Members in recycling over 73,206! Tires MSW

6 Members Helping Members SOLID WASTE DISTRICT Androscoggin Valley RRDD BCEP Solid Waste District Chittenden Solid Waste District Coos County Recycling Greater Upper Valley SWMD - VT Londonderry Solid Waste Group-VT Mad River SW Alliance - VT NE Kingdom WMD Pemi-Baker Solid Waste District S. Windsor/Windham Counties Souhegan Regional Landfill District Wilton SWD Windham Solid Waste Management District MUNICIPALITIES Cities City of Berlin, NH City of Claremont, NH City of Dover, NH City of Franklin City of Keene, NH City of Lebanon, NH City of Nashua, NH City of Portsmouth, NH Towns Coos County Transfer Station Town of Acworth, NH Town of Alexandria, NH Town of Allenstown, NH Town of Alstead, NH Town of Alton, NH Town of Amherst, NH Town of Andover, NH Town of Andover, VT Town of Antrim, NH Town of Ashby, MA Town of Ashland, NH Town of Athens, VT Town of Atkinson, NH Town of Averill, VT Town of Baltimore, VT Town of Barnet, VT Town of Barnstead, NH Town of Bartlett, NH Town of Bedford, NH Town of Belmont, NH Town of Bennington, NH Town of Bethlehem, NH Town of Bloomfield, VT Town of Boscawen, NH Town of Bow, NH Town of Bradford, NH Town of Brattleboro, VT Town of Brentwood, NH Town of Brewster, MA Town of Bridgewater, NH Town of Bridgewater, VT Town of Brighton, VT Town of Bristol, NH Town of Brookline, NH Town of Brookline, VT Town of Brunswick, VT Town of Burke, VT Town of Campton, NH Town of Canaan, NH Town of Canaan, VT Town of Candia, NH Town of Canterbury, NH Town of Carroll, NH Town of Cavendish, VT Town of Charlestown, NH Town of Chester, NH Town of Chester, VT Town of Chesterfield, NH Town of Chichester, NH Town of Clarksville, NH Town of Colebrook, NH Town of Concord, VT Town of Cornish, NH Town of Croydon, NH Town of Dalton, NH Town of Danbury, NH Town of Danville, VT Town of Deerfield, NH Town of Derby, VT Town of Derry, NH Town of Dorchester, NH Town of Dover, VT Town of Dummer, NH Town of Dummerston, VT Town of Dunbarton, NH Town of Durham, NH Town of East Haven, VT Town of Eastham, MA Town of Easton, NH Town of Effingham, NH Town of Eliot, ME Town of Ellsworth, NH Town of Enfield, NH Town of Epping, NH Town of Epsom, NH Town of Errol, NH Town of Fairlee, VT Town of Fitzwilliam, NH Town of Francestown, NH Town of Franconia, NH Town of Freedom, NH Town of Fremont, NH Town of Gilford, NH Town of Gilmanton, NH Town of Goffstown, NH Town of Gorham, NH Town of Goshen, NH Town of Grafton, NH Town of Grafton, VT Town of Granby, VT Town of Grantham, NH Town of Greenfield, NH Town of Greenland, NH Town of Greenville, NH Town of Groton, NH Town of Groton, VT Town of Guildhall, VT Town of Guilford, VT Town of Halifax, VT Town of Hampstead, NH Town of Hampton Falls, NH Town of Hampton, NH Town of Hancock, NH Town of Hanover, NH Town of Harrisville, NH Town of Hartland, VT Town of Hebron, NH Town of Henniker, NH Town of Hill, NH Town of Hillsborough, NH Town of Hingham, MA Town of Hinsdale, NH Town of Holderness, NH Town of Holland, VT Town of Hollis, NH Town of Hopkinton, NH Town of Irasburg, VT Town of Jackson, NH Town of Jaffrey, NH Town of Jamaica, VT Town of Jefferson, NH Town of Kirby, VT Town of Lancaster, NH Town of Landaff, NH Town of Landgrove, VT Town of Lee, NH Town of Lemington, VT Town of Lempster, NH Town of Lincoln, NH Town of Lisbon, NH Town of Litchfield, NH Town of Littleton, NH Town of Londonderry, VT Town of Loudon, NH Town of Ludlow, VT Town of Lunenburg, VT Town of Lyman, NH Town of Lyme, NH Town of Lyndeborough, NH Town of Lyndon, VT Town of Madbury, NH Town of Madison, NH Town of Maidstone, VT Town of Marlboro, VT Town of Marlborough, NH Town of Marlow, NH Town of Mason, NH Town of Meredith, NH Town of Merrimack, NH Town of Middleton, NH Town of Milan, NH Town of Milford, NH Town of Milton, NH Town of Monroe, NH Town of Mont Vernon, NH Town of Moretown, VT Town of Morgan, VT Town of Moultonborough, NH Town of N. Berwick, ME Town of Nelson, NH Town of New Boston, NH Town of New Durham, NH Town of New Hampton, NH Town of New London, NH Town of Newark, VT Town of Newbury, NH Town of Newbury, VT Town of Newfane, VT Town of Newfield, ME Town of Newmarket, NH Town of Newport, NH Town of Newton, NH Town of North Hampton NH Town of Northfield, NH Town of Northumberland NH Town of Northwood, NH Town of Norton, VT Town of Norwell, MA Town of Norwich, VT Town of Nottingham, NH Town of Orford, NH Town of Orleans, MA Town of Ossipee, NH Town of Peacham, VT Town of Pelham, NH Town of Pembroke, NH Town of Peru, VT Town of Peterborough, NH Town of Piermont, NH Town of Pittsburg, NH Town of Pittsfield, NH Town of Plainfield, NH Town of Plymouth, MA Town of Plymouth, NH Town of Plymouth, VT Town of Pomfret, VT

7 Town of Putney, VT Town of Randolph, NH Town of Raymond, NH Town of Reading, VT Town of Readsboro, VT Town of Rindge, NH Town of Rockingham, VT Town of Rollinsford, NH Town of Rumney, NH Town of Rye, NH Town of Ryegate, VT Town of Salisbury, CT Town of Salisbury, NH Town of Sanbornton, NH Town of Sandown, NH Town of Sandwich, NH Town of Seabrook, NH Town of Sharon, CT Town of Sharon, VT Town of Sheffield, VT Town of Shelburne, NH Town of Springfield, NH Town of Springfield, VT Town of Stark, NH Town of Stewartstown, NH Town of Strafford, NH Town of Strafford, VT Town of Stratford, NH Town of Stratham, NH Town of Stratton, VT Town of Sugar Hill, NH Town of Sunapee, NH Town of Sutton, NH Town of Sutton, VT Town of Swanzey, NH Town of Tamworth, NH Town of Temple, NH Town of Thetford, VT Town of Thornton, NH Town of Tilton, NH Town of Townshend, VT Town of Troy, NH Town of Tuftonboro, NH Town of Unity, NH Town of Vernon, VT Town of Vershire, VT Town of Waitsfield, VT Town of Wakefield, NH Town of Walpole, NH Town of Wardsboro, VT Town of Wareham, MA Town of Warner, NH Town of Warren, NH Town of Washington, NH Town of Waterford, VT Town of Waterville Valley, NH Town of Weare, NH Town of Weathersfield, VT Town of Webster, NH Town of Wellesley, MA Town of Wentworth, NH Town of West Fairlee, VT Town of West Windsor, VT Town of Westminster, VT Town of Westmore, VT Town of Westmoreland, NH Town of Weston, VT Town of Wheelock, VT Town of Whitefield, NH Town of Whitingham, VT Town of Wilmington, VT Town of Wilmot, NH Town of Wilton, NH Town of Windham, VT Town of Windsor, VT Town of Winhall, VT Town of Wolfeboro, NH Town of Woodstock, VT Town of Yarmouth, MA ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Business ABLE Waste Management, Inc. AMENICO - American Energy Ind. Co., LLC American Retroworks Inc. AmeriGas Propane L.P. Amoskeag Beverages, Inc. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Associated Grocers of New England Inc Barn Store of New England LLC BDS Waste Disposal Bestway Disposal BFI Hooksett Bond Auto Parts Bosgen Inc. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. CDHM Advertising Churchills Gardens Center CK Productions CPRC Group, LLC Edward G Parker Electronic Recyclers International, Inc. Elektrisola, Inc. Empire Recycling LLC EnergyNorth Propane Ever Better Eating, Inc. Evergreen Recycling Inc. E-Waste Recyclers LLC Grappone Auto Junction Great Rate Container Service, L.L.C. Green Mountain Furniture Greenleaf Waste & Recycling H2O Waste Disposal Services LLC Harding Metals, Inc. HiCycle Holiday Inn Concord Howard P Fairfield, LLC Huhtamaki Foodservice Inc. Insulectro J. P. Routhier & Sons, Inc. JA Simpson, Inc. Jack s Pizza Jones Lane Lasalle/Fidelity Investments Marlborough Greenhouses, Inc. Martindale Associates, Inc. McFarland Ford Sales, Inc. Monadnock Disposal Service Inc. Morgan Press, Inc. Naughton & Son Recycling New England Baling Wire, Inc. New England Quality Service, Inc. NH Automobile Dealers Assoc. North Conway Incinerator Service, Inc. North Country Environmental Services North Shore Recycled Fibers Northeast Logistics Northstar Pulp and Paper, Inc. Office Paper Recovery Systems, Inc. Osram Sylvania Products, Inc. - Hillsboro Page Street Leasing Pike Industries, Inc. Pilgrim Foods Div Old Dutch Mustard Co Pinard Waste Systems, Inc. Rindge Energy LLC RMG Enterprises Rochester Shoe Tree Company Seacoast Furniture, LLC Seacoast Volkswagen, Inc. SeaView Technologies, Inc. Stonyfield Farm The Keeney Manufacturing Company Thomas Hodgson & Sons, Inc. United Sign Associates URT/Universal Recycling Technologies, LLC Waste Management Inc. Watts Regulator Whole Foods Market - NE Gov t & Non-Profit Appalachian Mountain Club Association of Vermont Recyclers Audubon Society of New Hampshire Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center Dartmouth College Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Goodwill Industries of Northern NE Londonderry School District LRG Healthcare/Franklin Hospital Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Merrimack County Facility-Recycling Dept. NH Community Loan Fund NH Department of Transportation NH Dept. of Environmental Services NH Food Bank Northern Berkshire SWMD Planet Aid Salvation Army Adult Rehab. Center Southern NH University St. Paul s School Steel Recycling Institute Stonehill College Tri-Community Recycling Winsor Good News dba WinCycle Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Individual John Albertini Thomas E. Armstrong Deb Augustine Dorothy Berthiaume Sharon Byrne-Kishida Rick Cooper Mary Delahanty Margaret J. Hall John M. Hallstead, Ph.D Mitch Kessler Ronald B. Laurence, P.E. Susy Mansfield Gregory J. McVeigh Robert Nugent John Phettaplace James R. Presher Carl Wallman Rosemary Wiesner Ryan Chrzan Marinas Andrew s Marine Service, LLC Channel Marine Dave s Motorboat Shoppe, LLC Green s Marine Hampton River Marina Irwin Corporation dba Irwin Marine Lakeport Landing Marina Meredith Marina NH Marine Trade Association Shep Browns Boat Basin West Alton Marina West Shore Marine Winnisquam Marine, Inc. Members Helping Members

8 School Recycling Club The 2009/10 has been a year of FIRSTS for the School Recycling CLUB. June 7th marked the first-ever School Recycling Conference held in at the Radisson Hotel/Center of New Hampshire in Manchester. Students, teachers, administrators and parents joined forces to network, learn and strategize how recycling should work in their schools. The day ended with a celebration of schools that excelled in recycling in our School Recycling Awards Ceremony. This year also marked the start of a beautiful new relationship! New Hampshire the Beautiful awarded The CLUB a $25,000 grant to help create lifelong recyclers. The grant allowed The CLUB to hit the road running, visiting more than double the schools as it previously had and was used to make the Conference a huge success. The CLUB, and NRRA, reached out to the Association of Vermont Recyclers (AVR) and joined forces to consolidate our efforts and make the most of the resources available to each of us. This partnership formed great relationships and made a powerhouse that allowed us to jointly apply and receive additional funding from the USDA and EPA. Last but not least, this was the first year The CLUB kept in constant contact with its members, sending them monthly updates with the School News You Can Use blast. This informative and environmentally friendly form of communication shared great ideas and tips to members throughout the Northeast. NHtB NEW HAMPSHIRE THE BEAUTIFUL NH the Beautiful, Inc. (www. nhthebeautiful.org) is a private, non-profit charitable trust founded in 1983 and supported by the soft drink, malt beverage and grocery industries of New Hampshire. Offering municipal recycling grants (over $2.5 million) and signs, anti-litter programs, and technical assistance to recycling programs, NHtB is a unique organization that represents a voluntarily funded alternative to expensive legislation intended to achieve the same end results. New Hampshire the Beautiful, Inc. is now supporting the NRRA School Education Program (The CLUB). The Northeast Resource Recovery Association ( has been administrators for the New Hampshire the Beautiful programs since August This joint venture continues to be very successful. During the past fiscal year NH the Beautiful awarded $86,175 in grants to seventeen towns and the School Recycling CLUB and has approved another $21,390 for another eleven towns. Sixty-nine towns in NH also received $18,196 in signage for their Recycling Facilities. New this year was School Recycling signs of which seven schools received through their town. Also distributed at substantially reduced cost to schools, towns, non-profits and businesses are 14 gallon green recycling bins, ClearStreams and Clear- Stream bags. Congrats Belmont Elementary ~ School Recycler of the Year! AVR ASSOCIATION OF VERMONT RECYCLERS In December of 2009, the Association of Vermont Recyclers and the Northeast Resource Recovery Association announced joint operations, with the overwhelming support of both Governing Boards. NRRA has provided financial and administrative support for AVR programming in Vermont, and expanded AVR s public school recycling program offerings to NRRA communities throughout the Northeast. The Association of Vermont Recyclers (AVR), founded in 1982, is best known for its educational theater programs and its in-class presentations on recycling and other various environmental topics. During its twenty-plus year existence, AVR has been a leader in shaping and defining Vermont s recycling efforts and goals. In June, at the 29th Annual Northeast Recycling Conference, NRRA and AVR added a new School Recycling track. At this First in the Nation School Recycling Conference, nine workshops were offered by national leaders in school recycling programs. Over 110 students and teachers from across New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut attended the conference, to great acclaim. NRRA and AVR have been joint recipients of two federal grants to support their combined work in schools across New England. Both the US EPA and the USDA have awarded the jointly designed and administered program large grants, combined at over $100,000, for work in schools, at conferences, and in building relationships between Transfer Stations and their local schools. These grants run through December, 2011 and offer tremendous additional benefits to NRRA and AVR members. In July of 2010, AVR Executive Director, Norm Staunton joined the NRRA staff full time as NRRA s Grant Administrator to oversee the grant operations and to further develop and coordinate the relationship between AVR and NRRA.