The Town of Alfred is getting a new Zero Sort program for recycling at its transfer station, which kicked off last Saturday. The program means residents no longer need to sort their plastic, glass, cardboard or newspapers.

Hopefully this change will encourage more residents to recycle since they do not have to sort items, nor do they need to remove labels or caps. The town already has a pretty good recycling rate ”“ at 45 percent, according to the state ”“ but it could be even better.

According to Alfred Transfer Station Supervisor Bill Davis, there are 650 recyclers in Alfred, which equates to about one-third of the 1,700 households in town. Now, the other two-thirds need to step up and do their part. Since Alfred doesn’t have curbside pickup, it should be easy for people to make one extra stop at the station to dump their recyclables after disposing of their trash.

More recycling also means less money has to be spent on trash disposal. It costs the town $70 to dispose of each ton of household waste, without factoring in the cost of transporting it.

As more and more towns are moving to pay-as-you-throw systems, Alfred has yet to do so, but residents may be able to avoid such a change by recycling everything they can. The cost to dispose of trash is high, and other municipalities have shown the savings to be had through recycling.

Even though it was only instituted on July 1, the City of Biddeford is already seeing the financial impacts of a spike in recycling rates. The city had projected a 27 percent reduction in the amount of trash it disposes of, but the reduction rate after one month was 37 percent, according to Public Works Director Guy Casavant. That equates to one less trip to Westbrook each day to dump the trash, which could mean a savings of $20,000 to $30,000.

In addition, in late July, City Manager Jon Bubier said the city would also see a savings in tipping fees ”“ the cost to dispose of waste ”“ which could be as much as $140,000 for the fiscal year due to the reduction in waste.

Alfred already has a much higher rate than Biddeford, and it will hopefully continue on an upward trend as more and more residents see the value of recycling ”“ if not only for the savings.

The town accepts many items including most paper and cardboard products, plastics, glass, cans and other containers, but it does not accept plastic bags and plastic film, stretch wrap, Styrofoam, ceramics, window glass, mirrors, light bulbs, batteries, dishes, hard plastics and some children’s toys.