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Council presses sanitation staff on co-collection bag program, enforcement and cart pricing
Summary
Sanitation officials told the council a co-collection pilot moved to a second year and said unit-based pricing is the most effective waste‑reduction tool; council members pressed for survey data, enforcement rules and clarification on cart costs and counterfeit‑bag risks.
Sanitation staff and council members spent the Sept. 3 questions‑to‑directors workshop examining Middletown's co‑collection bag program, survey results and operational details including enforcement, cart sizes and the potential for counterfeit bags.
The recycling coordinator said the resident and business survey was administered through Jotform, compiled electronically and shared with the Recycling Commission, Sanitation Commission and the Waste Advisory Group. "As I recall, we had 70 results ... on average people are using about 2 bags a week," the recycling coordinator said, and she agreed to provide full results to council members who requested them.
Howard, the sanitation presenter, described year 1 as a pilot using orange and green bags and said the program moved into year 2. "The program that is proven to be most effective for reducing, waste is, unit based pricing or save as you throw," Howard said, while noting the city controls only the sanitation district portion of collections and not every private hauler in town.
Council members asked about alternatives and outreach. Staff said food‑scrap carts had been considered but are expensive because they require separate collection. Outreach and education remain priorities and staff said additional funding is needed to support outreach personnel.
Councilman Gennaro raised concerns that a for‑profit company could profit from municipal grant money and asked about the consequences of counterfeit bags. Staff replied that tipping fees are built into the bag program and that counterfeit bags would harm the city financially by shifting tipping fees onto municipal coffers; they said they have not seen counterfeit bags in volumes large enough to move the needle.
Councilman Lefredo asked about cart sizes and pricing. Staff said the city offers 95‑ and 65‑gallon carts and indicated the semiannual billing figures in the workshop (transcript shows the 95‑gallon at "$1.40 81" every six months and the 65‑gallon at "$1.24 72" every six months); staff also confirmed sanitation bills are sent twice yearly and said they could include an evaluation form with billing statements.
No policy change or vote was taken at the workshop; council members requested the full survey results and additional information about enforcement, counterfeit‑bag risk and program costs.
