Town Trash/Recycling Survey Results Summary
Results as of January 9, 2011
Overview (January 2011)
The results of this survey shows fairly unambiguously that:
- Portsmouth residents are satisfied (74%) with the transfer station as a system for handling trash and recycling waste.
- The large majority of respondents (75%) do not favor a pay-per-bag program
- While they are equally divided on whether the transfer station fees should or should not go up to pay for the entire cost of operating the transfer station, there is some agreement on the need to fund the overhaul of the station pits through temporary additional fees. - A majority of those responding felt that the transfer station is well operated (90%) and - appreciated the recycling options available there were good or excellent (95%).
Summary of the key responses.
- Residents Responding - Questions 1 & 2:
- 99% of the people responding to this survey reported they were Portsmouth residents, and
- 84% use the transfer station.
- Only 15% used private contractors and 1% indicated they didn't have either.
- Satisfaction with the Transfer Station - Question 3: 74% of the respondents were satisfied with the current trash waste disposal options in town.
- Cost of Transfer Station and Increased Fee - Question 4:
Regarding the cost of the annual transfer station fee and whether the cost of the annual sticker should go up to balance the cost of operating the transfer station, the answers were just about evenly split 50-50 between yes and no. - Transfer Station Overhaul - Question 5: This question related to the needed overhaul of the transfer station pits.
68% of the respondents agreed to have it done but differed, about half and half, whether it should be paid for over 7 years or all at once.
25% preferred the town use other funds for the overhauls and 7% said postpone them altogether. - Proof of Private Contractor - Question 6: This related to requiring everyone in Portsmouth to either purchase transfer station stickers or prove that they have a private waste removal contractor.
Responses were evenly split with 50% saying yes and 50% saying no. - Keep Station open vs Private Collection - Question 7:
Over 91% of the respondents DID NOT think the Town should eliminate the transfer station and revert to an all private collection option. - Recycling Operations - Question 8:
95% of the respondents indicated that they felt the current recycling options were either good or excellent. - Use of Transfer Station - Question 9:
87% of the respondents use the transfer station and 13.5% indicated they did not. - Wait time at transfer station - Question 10: Regarding the time required to use the transfer station,
76% indicated it was 10 min. or less and only 6% indicated they took over 15 minutes. - Days and times of use - Question 11: Regarding the days and times that people usually use the transfer station,
57% said week days before 4 PM,
17% said weekdays after 4 PM, and
27% said Saturday. - Overall Management - Question 12: Over 90% indicated that they felt overall management of the transfer station operation was good, very good, or excellent.
- Transfer Station Hours - Question 13: This related to transfer stations hours.
57% of respondents would agree to closing the station for one additional day per week, but
41% wanted to keep late opening days.
30% opted for keeping the current opening hours. - Limiting Kinds of Trash - Question 14: Limiting the kinds and quantity of trash being brought to the transfer station received varied responses.
20% would agree to limiting household construction and demolition debris,
14% would accept having a six bag per vehicle limit and 11% would agree to both options.
54% wanted no change to the current policies. - Pay-Per-Bag - Question 15: The response to the question regarding a pay-per-bag program were fairly unambiguous:
75% indicated they would NOT support such a program,
only 25% would. - Large Item Pickup - Question 16: Similarly, the question regarding an annual fee for curbside pickup of large items received
72% no and
only 28% yes responses.
Note: There were many open-ended comments and suggestions in this survey and they are much too numerous and complex to summarize. Many of these comments offered positive, useful suggestions for consideration.
Download a complete summary of the data generated to date by this survey(PDF Document)