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The first step is to get your purple “pay as you throw” trash bag out to the curb. Make sure it’s out there by 7 a.m., folks – that’s the deadline!
Next, the garbage truck swings by and a Bestway laborer, like Nik LeGrow, hops off to scoop up your bags and chuck ’em in the truck. In a typical day, LeGrow picks up anywhere from five to 10 tons of garbage – all by himself!
Concord’s trash – and the trash of two dozen surrounding towns – gets dropped off at the Wheelabrator facility in Penacook. Workers use this giant claw machine to drop tons of garbage into the incinerator – but it doesn’t just go up in smoke!
The garbage in the incinerator fuels a waste-to-energy process that creates some of the electricity used by Concord residents. Basically, the incinerator heats up water, which turns to superheated steam that goes through a turbine and creates energy. There may be a smokestack out there, but nothing comes out of it except pure steam.
The final product, after all the burning and churning, is a bit of ash – simply whatever would not combust in the incinerator. The ash is trucked up to Franklin and buried in a landfill. That’s a far cry from the days of just burying all of our garbage!
Ever wonder just what happens to your garbage after you kick it to the curb? So did we! Last week, we rode along with a Bestway truck to follow a bag of trash from curbside to – well, whatever the heck comes next!
Come ride along with the Insider on our trashy odyssey. All we ask is that, when you’re done reading, don’t forget to recycle us! Or frame this issue and put it on the wall – your call.
While we were on the journey, we also picked up some crucial trash tips. Read on and become enlightened
Trash Tips
- Grossed out by the smell of your garbage cans? Put a fresh dryer sheet on the bottom of the barrel. Your nose will thank you – and so will the garbagemen!
- Put your recycling and trash barrels on opposite sides of your driveway. Otherwise, your trash might be obscured by the recycling bins and the garbage truck could miss it!
- Residents need to make special arrangements to dispose of TVs and other electronics, as well as furniture and other bulky items. Contact Bestway at 224-5454 to inquire about rates and schedule a pickup.
- Dangerous materials, like cleaning supplies, fuel, rat poison and the like can’t be thrown in the trash. Take them to Household Hazardous Waste Day at Everett Arena on Sept. 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Want a tour of the Wheelabrator facility? It’s pretty cool! Call 753-8411 to set up a tour.
- To see a video explaining just how the Wheelabrator facility works, visit wheelabratortechnologies.com/plants/how-it-works
