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Our June 2026 Member Operations & Marketing Meeting brought 15 attendees to the Keene Recycling Center for a morning of updates, discussion, and an inside look at one of New Hampshire’s larger municipal recycling facilities. The meeting covered a wide range of topics important to recycling and solid waste operators, including cooperative marketing and purchasing, current recycling markets, household hazardous waste events, legislative developments, and updates from the NH Department of Environmental Services. A Strong Focus on Solid Waste Safety Solid waste safety was a major theme throughout the meeting, particularly following a...

The NH Recycles Conference & Expo is about more than workshops, exhibitors, and a single day on the calendar. It is an opportunity for transfer station operators, municipal leaders, regulators, businesses, and industry partners to come together, share ideas, build relationships, and find practical solutions to the challenges facing their communities. Our new video captures what makes the conference so special—and why people return year after year. Through education, conversation, and connection, the conference helps strengthen municipal recycling and solid waste programs across New Hampshire. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/default...

The New Hampshire Legislature’s 2026 session has come to a close, with lawmakers considering a wide range of proposals related to solid waste management, recycling, landfills, product stewardship, and waste reduction. Throughout the session, NH Recycles tracked legislation that could affect New Hampshire municipalities, transfer stations, solid waste districts, and recycling programs. Two bills became law, two were awaiting potential action by the governor as of July 7, and several other proposals were vetoed, referred for interim study, or determined to be inexpedient to legislate. NH Recycles does not take a position for or...

NH Recycles welcomed nearly 300 attendees to the 2026 Recycling Conference & Expo on Monday, May 18, at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord — our largest one-day conference attendance in the past decade. This year was also our first time trying a one-day conference format, and we are happy to say it was a success. The day was full, focused, and practical. It brought together the people who operate, manage, and support recycling and transfer stations in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine. Transfer station operators, municipal staff, state and local officials, recycling and waste management companies, community...

When you bring old paint, chemicals, or other household hazardous waste (HHW) to a collection event, it doesn’t just disappear—it enters a carefully controlled system designed to protect people, facilities, and the environment every step of the way. Recently, NH Recycles toured EnviroServe to see exactly what happens next. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look! Step 1: From Your Town to the Facility After an HHW event wraps up, materials are packed, labeled, and transported to EnviroServe’s facility in Auburn, Maine. - Waste can remain on the transport truck for up to 24 hours—and not a minute longer. - Every step is tightly regulated...

A Visit to North Coast Services - a TerraCycle company Ever wonder what actually happens to your electronics after they leave your transfer station? This March, we had the chance to tour North Coast Services to follow that journey—and to get a closer look at how materials are handled, sorted, and safely recycled. We met with their team and walked through the process from start to finish. Here’s what stood out. NH Recycles members joined North Coast's team and NH Recycles' Municipal Recycling Advisor for a personal tour of the facility. From Pickup to Processing When you submit an electronics recycling request through NH Recycles, we...

The March Solid Waste Working Group (SWWG) meeting covered a lot of ground - from national policy approaches like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to the very real challenges of managing hard-to-recycle items like vapes. Here’s a clear, practical rundown of what we heard and what it means for New Hampshire communities. EPR 101 with the Product Stewardship Institute We started with a presentation from Scott Cassel, Founder and CEO of Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), a national nonprofit that works with state and local governments on solutions for consumer products and packaging. A key focus: Extended Producer Responsibility...

Recently, the NH Recycles Member Services team—including Member Services Director Brian Patnoe, Municipal Recycling Advisor Steve Bean, Executive Director Reagan Bissonnette, and Education & Grants Manager Andrea Folsom—had the opportunity to tour BDS Tire Recycling in Fairfield, Maine. Hosted by Scott Matteson, the visit offered a firsthand look at what really happens to tires after they leave your transfer station! Here’s the bottom line: tires don’t just get shredded and burned. They’re turned into new, useful materials that show up in more places than you might expect. From Tires to New Products At BDS Tire Recycling, old tires...

About Us: NH Recycles (formerly the Northeast Resource Recovery Association) is the oldest and largest cooperative-model recycling nonprofit in the United States. Founded in 1981, the organization partners with more than 450 municipalities, businesses, and individuals across New England to strengthen recycling through economically and environmentally sound solutions. NH Recycles supports small, rural communities and is one of only a handful of nonprofits nationwide that enables communities to manage their own recycling programs by connecting them directly with end markets for recyclables. The organization shares its expertise...

On March 19, 2026, NH Recycles hosted a Solid Waste Safety Summit in New London, bringing together over 70 transfer station operators, municipal staff, fire professionals, and state partners to tackle one of the fastest-growing safety challenges in the waste stream: lithium-ion batteries. With a full room of “boots-on-the-ground” operators, the conversation focused on real-world risks, practical solutions, and the shared responsibility of keeping facilities—and communities—safe. Why This Topic Matters Now Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere—phones, tools, vapes, lawn equipment, and more—and they’re increasingly ending up in the...