December 2025

Newsletter

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E-Waste Event, Styrofoam Recycling,

Gifting, Textile Collection Highlights,

December WM Calendar, and

What We're Reading & Listening To

E-Waste Collection

SalemRecycles'

E-Waste Recycling Event

Tomorrow!

Saturday, December 13

8 am - 12 pm

Salem High School, 77 Willson Street

Dispose of your unwanted electronics responsibly!

For this collection, enter SHS driveway as usual, then take immediate left toward Horace Mann School, where the recycling truck will be.

Recycle many items for FREE.

Our electronics recycling partner, RMG Enterprise, will take your old computer towers, laptops, tablets, cellphones, small appliances, household electronics (phones, printers, fax machines, CD players), and more at no cost. You can even bring your old light strings!

For $20 cash or check, per unit, they'll also take:

TVs, monitors, microwaves, dehumidifiers, ACs, and vacuum cleaners.

Larger items are $40 cash or check per unit:

Refrigerators, exercise equipment, battery-powered lawn equipment, free-standing electronic devices such as fireplaces, heaters, air hockey tables, and more.

Consider donating electronic items in good condition

via a local Buy Nothing page or another swap group.

You can always bring any e-items containing mercury along with CFL light bulbs to Salem DPS, 5 Jefferson Avenue, during regular City business hours: Monday through Wednesday, 8 am to 4 pm; Thursday, 8 am to 7 pm; or Friday, 8 am to noon.

Learn more on our website at https://greensalem.com/event/e-waste-recycling-event-11/

For more information about this event, please contact Waste Reduction Coordinator Alisa Cherkasova at acherkasova@salem.com.

Styrofoam Collection

Check your holiday boxes for Styrofoam and

bring it to our FREE, drive-through event

for Salem and Beverly residents!

Styrofoam Collection Day

Saturday, January 10

10 am – 1 pm

Beverly High School

100 Sohier Road, Beverly

Salem and Beverly are partnering once again to host Styrofoam Collection Day. Hold on to your foam, as Save That Stuff (Casella) will collect it to recycle!

Attend the drive-through event at Beverly High on Saturday or drop off your Styrofoam the day before, January 9, from 9 am to 5 pm at Beverly Public Library.

Please bring only rigid, white, expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam). No packaging peanuts or food service containers such as meat trays, clamshells, or Styrofoam cups can be accepted.

While Styrofoam cannot be recycled curbside, Save That Stuff has densifiers that can process the material for recycling. We’re excited to offer residents a way to sustainably dispose of their Styrofoam!

VOLUNTEERS needed for two shifts, 10:00 - 11:30 am and 11:30 - 1:15. Please reach out to Waste Reduction Coordinator Alisa Cherkasova at acherkasova@salem.com to sign up!

For more information, contact Alisa at acherkasova@salem.com or (978) 619-5672 or 978-594-3938.

Eco-Friendly Gifting

Choose Gifts for the Ages

This year, we're focusing on making memories rather than purchasing new items.

Too many gifts soon end up as waste. Even unwanted items that are returned can end up in landfills or incinerators!

Here are just a few gift-giving alternatives to spark your own ideas:

Give a gift of music, dance, or theater:

Purchase an unforgettable performance while supporting the local arts scene.

Give the gift of time:

Commit to sharing a fun activity with a friend or family member. Go out to the movies, play ping pong, schedule a fancy lunch, make a sledding date for the first snowfall, or plan to volunteer for a cause close to your hearts.

Feeling crafty? Build something!

Creating something together will be a memorable experience, and you may well cherish your creation(s) for a lifetime.

Textile Drive Highlights

Our drive-through setup.

In addition to textiles, we collected TerraCycle items, which can also be dropped off year-round at City Hall Annex. Learn more here.

Kudos to everyone who participated in our annual Textile Recycling Drive!

More than 320 cars showed up at our drive-through Textile Recycling Drive at Salem High last month. Our thanks to all of the Salem residents who participated and to the volunteers who turned out on that inclement November day!

With assistance from our friends at Helpsy, we collected a whopping 6,021 pounds of clothing, linens, and more, including a few stuffed bears (see below)! Items are sorted and then either sold to thrift stores, donated, or shredded and recycled for a variety of industrial uses.

Learn more about textile recovery on our website here.

Two people could bearly (ahem) carry this behemoth!

December WM Calendar

The final yard waste collection of the year took place this week. If your yard waste was not picked up on your trash day this week, please put in a ticket on SeeClickFix: www.seeclickfix.com/salem_ma

Salem's Transfer Station closes for the season on Sunday, December 14.

This season's curbside Christmas tree collections are scheduled for the week of December 29 - January 3 and January 12 - 16, on your regular trash pickup day.

Until the end of January, trees may be dropped inside the parking lot (far end of the lot) at Castle Hill Park, 4 Story Road.

Whether you are getting a curbside pickup or dropping your tree off, please make sure it is free of any ornaments, tinsel, stands, or plastic bags!

Save the Date

January 10 - Volunteer Fair at Salem High.

Come by our table to say hello and learn more about our activities!

What We're Reading & Listening To

What We're Reading:

Sustainability & Resiliency Newsletter, December 2025. Department of Sustainability & Resiliency, City of Salem.
The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late by Judith Enck, Adam Mahoney, Beyond Plastics. Note that this book is currently on order at Salem Public Library.
One Thing You Should Never Put in Recycling. One5C, December 11, 2025.

What We're Listening To:

Putting Our Best Foot Forward, Reducing the Environmental Impact of Shoes, MassRecycles, Episode 53.

SalemRecycles' mission is to reduce trash tonnage in the City of Salem by increasing recycling, diverting reusable items, and motivating city stakeholders through education and information.

SalemRecycles

www.greensalem.com