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Committee prepares for Waste Management contract renewal, considers automated pickup and resident concerns
Summary
Staff said the current Waste Management contract expires this year and that the borough will issue bid specs; the committee discussed vendor moves toward automated pickup with separate carts (e.g., 90-gallon trash and 65-gallon recycling), potential changes to collection frequency, and resident complaints about bin placement and service response times.
Speaker 4 reported that the borough’s contract with Waste Management expires this year and that staff will begin preparing bid specifications. Speaker 4 and other participants said Waste Management and other vendors are moving toward automated-arm pickup systems and cart-based service; Speaker 4 described likely cart sizes (cited approximately 90-gallon for regular trash and 65-gallon for recycling) and said weekly large pickups would remain but regular curbside trash collection might shift to a rotating monthly schedule per household to achieve competitive rates.
Speaker 4 said the transition would probably include senior discounts and mechanisms for residents to upsize or downsize carts after delivery; staff noted automated-tag programs or similar access controls are common in automated pickup systems. Speaker 4 cautioned rates will increase compared with current service but that automated systems may offer more competitive pricing overall during bidding.
Speaker 8 and others raised resident complaints (cited from social media) that Waste Management crews had been leaving bins in the street and that replacement of outdated cans has been delayed by supply-chain issues and vendor backlogs; staff said vendor customer-service responses have been automated and that the backlog has limited timely replacements. Speaker 4 said staff had met with the vendor to attempt to address the problems.
No formal contract award or specifications were adopted at the meeting; members asked staff to prepare bid documents and to return with pricing and options for service models.
Next steps: staff to draft specifications for bid and to seek options for automated pickup, cart sizes, senior discounts and other provisions; staff will also continue to press the vendor on bin replacement and customer-service performance.
