Plaistow reviews competing trash and recycling bids from Waste Management and Casella

Representatives from Waste Management and Casella presented competing proposals for Plaistow’s trash, recycling and bulky-item services at the Board of Selectmen meeting Jan. 12.

Waste Management described a direct-to-resident bulk-pickup program in which residents schedule pickups by phone or online, pay per item, and the company accepts common oversized items (sofas, mattresses) but not hazardous materials or very heavy objects such as pianos. Waste Management told the board it has seen a roughly 70% reduction in bulk items in other service areas after adopting a fee-based bulk program. The company said a refrigerator would be billed at $50 and a separate bulky-item rate in the proposal is $38; a $3.50 surge charge would be added when applicable. Waste Management said trash would be taken to a Rochester, N.H., landfill and recycling would go to a Billerica processing facility; the company proposed providing two dedicated trucks (one trash, one recycling) and purchasing two new trucks for Plaistow service as part of the quoted cost if the town signs a contract within 90 days. The company offered monthly reports on resident complaints and said it would leave town-owned carts on site and perform repairs/swaps from town inventory or supply replacements at additional cost if the town lacks inventory.

Casella presented a separate offer emphasizing single-stream recycling access and regional recycling and disposal assets. Casella said dumpster rates would include tipping fees, cardboard dumpsters could be serviced weekly, and two roll-offs per year would be included (with up to four events at no charge). Casella described options for biweekly or monthly bulky collections, mattress recycling through a third-party facility, and food-waste collection as an optional offering. The company said it is not subject to a surcharge and noted cart-warranty practices (a 10-year warranty; the town’s current carts are about five years into that term). Casella described a tag-or-subscription model for extra household trash and said it could handle resident complaints and supply monthly complaint counts to the town.

Both firms said they can adapt frequencies and pricing to town preference and provided sample fee sheets and service models. Board members asked procedural questions but did not take a vote; the minutes record that the board plans a decision at its Jan. 29 meeting.

Sources and evidence for this article are the companies’ presentations and the meeting minutes.