Do you use the Cornish Recycling Center? Do you ever wonder why it’s located where it is, or how it got started? Learning about the Recycling Center history will assure you that Cornish was, and continues to be a VOLUNTEER town. Neighbors help neighbors, and town residents work together, again and again on big and small projects to make things happen!!

Today’s busy recycling center was once the site of the Cornish Town dump. In 1975 when NH State law required the closing of town dumps and ended the regular burning of deposited trash and garbage (thankfully), Cornish had decisions to make about its dump site. For starters, residents’ garbage and trash had to be redirected to managed landfills. At the March 1975 Town Meeting, resident Susan Van Rensellaer suggested the Town elect a committee from the floor for resource recovery of the town dump. She was chosen to head the committee, and Bill Gallagher, Jill Edson, and Alvan Barrus were also selected. The resulting vote was in the affirmative and the recycling task force was underway.

The Cornish Recycling Center officially opened in spring of 1977, with Select Board member Myron Quimby cutting the ribbon! An all-volunteer group (including long-standing, early members Nancy and Rev Wightman), worked long and hard to learn what to recycle, and how to move it responsibly out of Cornish. Volunteers also worked tirelessly to clear and organize/reclaim the space, acquiring and arranging many 55 gallon drums and signage to direct patrons to deposit their newspaper, glass, tin, and aluminum cans for recycling. The primary income came from recycled paper and those dollars were used to cover the transportation expenses to have all materials trucked away. (Note, no PLASTIC recycling was offered in the early years!! Now plastic is a large component of our recyclables, and trash.)

The Cornish Recycling Center operated with an all-volunteer staff (those who used the center signed up to work at the center). And as volume and use increased, a building was needed and built with donated lumber (thanks to Jim Fitch and Harold Morse), and repurposed windows and doors, and as always, lots of volunteer labor to create a much needed indoor storage space. Used car oil was collected to treat lumber, and a stained glass window was created and donated by Sherri Hahn. In 1994 the Center expanded again, and volunteers (led by Richard Thompson) created the large sheds you see today. Of course, repurposed telephone poles and metal roofing were used, and recycled crushed glass served as a foundation, covered with rebar and a cement finish.

In 2000, after 23 years of all-volunteer operation, the Town took over management and staffing of the recycling center, ensuring it as a mainstay of the town’s waste management services for all residents. Many thanks for all of the early volunteer efforts, and also for the continuing organized, and courteous service of our Town staff. They do a great job for all of us!!

Build it and they will come! And folks have kept coming for over 44 years and counting! Cornish residents have appreciated creating and utilizing a “resource recovery” center to bring their recyclables, keeping trash off our roads and out of our water sources, and participating in making the environment cleaner for all of us.

Visit the Cornish Recycling Center on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm. A waste collector is on-site to haul bagged trash for a fee. And don’t forget you can visit the Swap Shop and even recycle toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and personal care product packaging by utilizing the Beyond the Bin container.