Transfer Station

Going to the Andover Transfer station on Saturday February 10, 2018 was a bit different for me. Usually in my hometown of Norwell, Ma, we have a garbage truck system that takes our trash and recycling. Andover is a smaller town and a transfer station seems necessary. As we were traveling around the whole site on a cold and slippery day, it was quite interesting to learn about this station. There were limited workers there (one who was a full time worker) and pretty much all the work was done by the locals. Visiting the station was cool to see where the Andover population gets rid of there trash and recycling.


Photo taken by Myles Abbate

As we got off the bus, We headed straight over to the incinerator to see where and what happens to the peoples trash. It was like a small opening with a metal hole where the trash is disposed and crushed up. It was controlled by one of the workers and once there was enough trash filled up, He would do his work and crush it up. The trash is then brought to a incinerator in Boscawen. Everyone has to pay the town of Andover in order to use this transfer station.

The other main part of the station was the recycling. There was a little but another incinerator for recycling. It did the same thing as the trash but didn't smell as bad. Also, there was a recycling building. There were a lot of things in there that people give up and others can take. It was cool to see that the things people don't want anymore can be retrieved by someone else for free. There was a section with all mercury products. Mostly it was made up with old T.V's. This could be mercury deposition. If it spreads, the mercury could be absorbed into things and then effecting the people.





Photo credit Myles Abbate
















Photos taken by Myles Abbate



Something that was really cool was the tires that we saw at the station. They were in a truck and a bunch of them were in there. Alan told us that the community service and rock climbing team were the ones who were responsible for cleaning up the tires. The problem with having tires out in the open is that they absorb water and can spreads toxins. This is a type of hazardous waste. As they seem that they do no harm to nature, tires really have an effect.

Photo taken by Myles Abbate

I was very fascinated when we visited the Transfer station in Andover. It's nice to see what happens to peoples trash, recycling, and other products. I really enjoy doing activities like these because we get to leave the classroom and have a hands on learning. I didn't think this site was going to be this small but considering the population of the town it made sense. I think Andover is doing the right and safe thing for the environment. Overall, I thought that exploring the Transfer station was fun and unique.