NERC Embraces Reuse & Recycling for Office Closure

July 10, 2023

By Mary Ann Remolador, Assistant Director, NERC

After working virtually for more than three years, it became obvious to staff that NERC’s office in Brattleboro, Vermont was no longer necessary. Upon making that decision, we were then faced with figuring out a plan for tackling the 36-year accumulation of paperwork, supplies, equipment, and furniture. As you might expect, we explored all of the different available options for reuse and recycling in the area.


We started the clean out process with the arduous task of culling through the paper in nine very full filing cabinets. This required assessing each and every piece of paper to discern if needed to be saved, shredded, or recycled. This experience taught us all a valuable lesson about saving unnecessary items. 


The amount of paper to be recycled filled the collection containers at the Hooker Dunham Building for several weeks. The thoroughness of this part of the clean out was both uplifting and painful. We could see the progress we were making and had sore muscles from the many trips of carrying the recycling bins upstairs to be emptied. 


The next step was to find out who we could donate the remaining furniture, equipment, and supplies to. After some quick Google searches and some phone calls, we were able to develop a contact list of the local private and public schools, the library, the recycling office, as well as some neighboring offices who we thought may be interested. The local Chamber of Commerce also offered to distribute our information to non-profit organizations. 


We decided to hold a one day Open House where everyone could browse, select, and take away the items they wanted. The Open House flyer was emailed out and follow up phone calls made to further entice attendance.


While driving to Brattleboro for the Open House, I found myself worrying if people would actually show up for it. That all changed a few minutes after opening our doors as visitors almost immediately started arriving. We were happy to greet the Brattleboro Library, the Windham Regional Commission, St. Michael’s Catholic School (elementary, middle, and high school), Green Street Elementary School, and the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community. 


The office was buzzing with people as they filled their bags and carried away their chosen items. It felt like a party. Everyone was so appreciative of the donations since they were all working with leaner budgets. This part of the closure process was very rewarding knowing we helped local organizations and kept items out of the landfill. 


As a result, the items taken for reuse included almost all of the office supplies, a large wooden bookcase, two small wooden bookcases, two small metal book cases, a hand truck, manual typewriter, projector, conference table, a metal supply cabinet and all of its contents, a compost bin, coffee table, two filing cabinets, a handful of surge protectors, and a small wooden side table. The remaining reusable furniture was delivered to the Brattleboro Goodwill store, and the leftover metal items and electronics were recycled at the Windham County Solid Waste District.


There are still some remaining tasks to be completing before we shut the office doors, but we are relieved to have arrived at this point!

NERC’s new mailing address is Post Office Box 551, Brattleboro, Vermont 05302.

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August 29, 2025
Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Publishes 25 th Report Marking Six Years of Quarterly Data
By Recycled Materials Association July 29, 2025
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has opened the 2025 Emerging Professionals (EP) Program . Now, in its third year, the program provides professionals who are new to the field of recycling, sustainability, and environmental stewardship with discounted access to NERC’s Conference and Foundations Course, sponsored by their employer organization. EPs gain valuable connections with seasoned industry professionals and peers while engaging in discussions on current trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the industry. This program is designed for those with three or fewer years of experience. “This year, EPs also receive a discount to our Foundations of Sustainable Materials Management course (a live, instructor-led training) developed to provide the key building blocks for understanding the industry,” said Mariane Medeiros, Senior Project Manager at NERC. “It’s a great way to close the loop: gaining both a strong technical foundation and real-world connections in one experience.” Read and Learn More.
By Chaz Miller June 30, 2025
Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. On July 1, Oregon’s packaging and paper extended producer responsibility (EPR) program begins operating. This will be a first in our country. “Producers”, instead of local governments or private citizens, will be paying to recycle packages and paper products. Colorado’s program begins operating early in 2026. For years we have heard the theory of how packaging EPR will work. At last, we will get results. Five other states also have laws. Their programs should all be operating by 2030. None of the state laws have identical requirements. The Circular Action Alliance, the “producer responsibility organization” responsible for managing the program in most of those states, knows it has a lot on its plate. EPR laws are not new to the U.S. Thirty-two states already have laws that cover a wide variety of products such as electronics, paint, mattresses, batteries, etc. Those laws are relatively simple. Most cover one product. The producer group is a small number of companies. Goals and programs are focused and narrow. They are a mixed bag of success and failure. Packaging EPR is far more complex. The number of covered products is way higher. Thousands of companies are paying for these programs. Goals are challenging. Some are impossible to meet. In addition, local governments treat recycling as a normal service. Their residents will still call them if their recyclables aren’t picked up. It probably hasn’t helped that advocates tout EPR as the solution for recycling’s problems. We are told we will have more collection and better processing with higher recycling rates. Markets will improve and even stabilize. Some of this will happen, but not all. Collection and processing should go smoothly in Oregon. The state has high expectations for recycling. I have no doubt recycling will increase. Collection programs will blanket the state, giving more households the opportunity to recycle. I’m not sure, though, how much of an increase we will see. Recycling coordinators know that some people and locations are stubbornly indifferent to recycling. COVID has ruptured civic values and behavior. Creating a recycling culture is harder than ever. Producers know how to sell their products. Now they need to learn how to sell recycling. Another challenge is the “responsible end market” requirements. You’ve probably seen pictures of overseas dumps created by unscrupulous or just naïve plastics “recyclers”. In response, Oregon and the other states are requiring sellers and end markets to prove they are “responsible”. They must provide information about who and where they are, how they operate, how much was actually recycled, and more. Recycling end markets pushed back. Paper and metals recyclers argue they shouldn’t be covered. They don’t cause those problems. As for plastics, the general manager of one of America’s largest plastics recycling companies said his company now spends time and money gathering data and filling out forms to prove they’re “responsible”. His virgin resin competitors don’t have to. Ironically, we now import more plastics for recycling than we export. Maybe those countries should impose similar requirements on their plastics recyclers. Colorado faces unique problems. The mountain state is large. Its population is concentrated on the I-25 corridor running north and south through Denver with low population density elsewhere. Recycling collection and processing is limited as are end markets. To make matters worse, slightly more than half of its households use “subscription” services for waste and recycling collection. Those services are funded by the households, not by taxpayers. EPR doesn’t have this experience in other countries. Colorado gets to blaze this trail. The second state to go live poses substantive challenges for producers. The good news for both states? Local governments that pay for recycling collection and processing will see most of those costs go away. Consumers are unlikely to see prices rise, for now. National companies will simply spread their costs among all 50 states. Local and regional producers, unfortunately, don’t have that advantage. As for improved markets, remember that recyclables are and always will be commodities subject to the ups and downs of the economy. I don’t see substantive changes in recycling markets unless the producer group’s members try to manipulate markets to their own advantage. 2025 saw new laws and changes to existing laws. Maryland and Washington became the sixth and seventh packaging EPR states. At the same time, California is rewriting its regulations and Maine significantly revised its law. Some of these changes narrowed EPR’s scope to the dismay of advocates. I’m a member of Maryland’s EPR Advisory Council. We’ve been meeting for a year, discussing the Needs Assessment and now our new law. We have our own unique set of challenges. We also have a big advantage. We can learn from Oregon’s and Colorado’s experiences. Tune in next year to learn how we are progressing. Read on Waste360.