Rockingham deals with Act 148
ROCKINGHAM — ROCKINGHAM - Act 148, the state food waste recycling law, moved one step closer to full implementation on July 1, with the second of five phase-ins leading to residential food recycling in 2020.
The rules introduce a statewide pricing structure that requires residential trash be charged based on volume or weight. They also ban recyclables from landfills and require transfer stations and drop-off facilities to accept leaf and yard debris.
Residential haulers must now offer residential recycling with no separate charge. Public buildings must provide recycling containers alongside trash containers in public spaces, except in restrooms.
Joe Ruggiero of Saxtons River, owner of Ruggiero Trash Removal, said the biggest impact for his drivers is educating customers about recyclables, and getting them to separate them out.
Asked if his business was “just a job” or if it had greater signficance to him, Ruggiero said, “I am a grandfather, and I think that it is a good idea to try to save the Earth.”
He said he would not want to sacrifice anything affecting his grandchildren's health, and considers recycling efforts to be a healthy choice. He added that, like many healthy choices these days, his customers may pay more in the end for overall recycling, but, “it's important” for the health of the planet.
Southern Windsor/Windham Solid Waste Management District manager Tom Kennedy told the Rockingham Selectboard that a new two-year contract had been approved with Casella Resource Solutions, a Vermont-based national trash and recycling company. He told the Selectboard in May that Westminster/Rockingham Waste and Recycling and Drop-Off center was a “great facility.”
VerMed changes owners, gets state grant
ROCKINGHAM - Bellows Falls-based medical device manufacturer, VerMed, was recently bought by Buffalo, N.Y.-based Graphics Controls.
According to an article in Vermont Business Magazine, Citizens Bank provided the financing for the purchase. In a Citizens Bank press release, Graphic Controls President/CEO Sam Heleba said, “I was born and raised in Vermont very close to VerMed, [so] making this acquisition is quite special to me.”
VerMed employs 85 with annual revenues over $10 million, according to Vermont Business Magazine. It was recently approved for Vermont Employment Growth Incentives totaling $506,750 as part of an incentive package that also included $200,000 from the Windham County Economic Development Program to help ensure continued growth of new jobs in Bellows Falls.
“The support of Vermont's Governor Shumlin, Patricia Moulton from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and the Vermont Economic Progress Council was fundamental in ensuring continued job opportunity and growth for our manufacturing site in Bellows Falls,” said Heleba. “They acted at the speed of business.”
According to a news release, Graphics Controls will be adopting the VerMed name as their global medical division identity.