Windham will undergo a change in its recycling process when it switches over to single-stream recycling starting on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Windham Transfer Station manager David Poulson said converting to the new system will save the town at least $150,000 per year.

It will also encourage more people to recycle, as it makes things easier on the average consumer of goods who doesn’t want to have to think about which types of materials are recyclable.

“People get apathetic because they don’t want to separate the wastes,” said Poulson. “Roughly, you can raise recycling rates by 15 percent with single-stream.”

Right now, Windham residents who recycle have to pay close attention to what they’re recycling to make sure they are not trying to recycle certain materials, such as specific types of plastic, that the Windham transfer station cannot process.

The items then go to the transfer station for sorting. The transfer station then sells bales of the recycled products to companies who are willing to take it. The transfer station uses a broker to set up facilities to take the waste that is suitable for recycling.

Single-stream recycling puts all the sorting and processing effort onto selected material recovery facilities, who then become responsible for selecting which items can be recycled.

Instead of getting a price for each commodity, such as paper, aluminum or plastic, the Windham transfer station will now get one lump sum from one facility for all the recyclables based on how much it weighs, not necessarily what its contents are.

The savings will come from staffing costs, but also from being more efficient in not having to sort out items that can’t be used, Poulson said.

It will also make it easier for residents who aren’t sure which types of items they can or should be recycling.

Poulson said a temporary single-stream vendor has been set up to make the switch in September, but added they will go out to bid for a permanent vendor with the idea of having a solid contract combining the transfer station’s single-stream recyclables and regular trash disposal for January 2009.

“The key right now is to save money for Windham on the municipal garbage,” Poulson said. “We’re trying to go with a vendor that has both capacities.”