Dartmouth High School’s parking lot was lined with vehicles on Saturday, each filled with old furniture, dehumidifiers, mattresses and other household items — all with the purpose of safely disposing of them for a greener future.

The recycling drop-off event was held in partnership between the Town of Dartmouth, Eversource, and state representatives Bill Straus (D-Mattapoisett)  and Chris Markey (D-Dartmouth). 

“It’s a big crowd,” said Markey, who attended the event. “[This event] seems to be working well, it hasn’t stopped since quarter of ten.”

Organizations like Green Team Junk Removal, Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Superior Waste, CMRK, Old Colony Habitat for Humanity, and HandUp Mattress Recycling & Upcycling set up stations throughout the parking lot and helped townsfolk unload their vehicles. 

Tim Barber, interim director of the town’s Department of Public Works said this is the first regional recycling event held in Dartmouth. 

The main challenge, he said, was keeping cars moving smoothly though the lot and quickly unloading their recyclables. 

“[Recycling] keeps these items out of solid waste, where our landfills are filling up and running out of capacity,” Barber said. “So offering an event where communities can recycle large household items like mattresses and furniture … it keeps them out of the landfill.”

HandUp Mattress Recycling is one of five organizations in Massachusetts that is authorized to recycle mattresses. At their factory in New Bedford, HandUp’s team breaks mattresses apart by hand, according to owner Erick Dyson.

“They salvage the cotton, foam, steel and wood,” he said. “About 75% of the weight of a mattress ends up being recycled and not going into a landfill.” 

But at this event, mattresses were few and far between with HandUp only having collected three mattresses an hour into the drop-off. 

“The challenge is, frankly, since we’ll come to anyone’s house in Dartmouth for $35, why are they going to drive over here?” said Dyson. However, he continued, events like these raise awareness for mattress recycling programs.

Meanwhile, at one of the busiest stations at the drop-off, Markey helped unload dehumidifiers from the trunks of cars as a part of an Eversource program that offered a $30 rebate for old, inefficient units. 

Bill Stack, a spokesperson for Eversource said that old dehumidifiers can use “so much energy” and that recycling those older models is a way to both lower bills while creating less waste.

According to Stack, 98% of dehumidifiers can be recycled. Only components like mercury thermometers and copper tubing need to be handled separately. 

At this station, Markey met with constituents and did some heavy lifting himself. 

“I’m surprised at the weight of some of these things,”he said, taking a break from offloading dehumidifiers. “I’m just glad I’m helping.”