Easton is facing down a new trash-collection contract that is projected to be “hugely expensive,” Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said last week.
Municipalities across the Lehigh Valley and beyond are facing similar situations as the costs of curbside collection rise.
“The standard drivers of cost increases are labor, equipment and fuel,” Jeremy O’Brien, director of applied research for the Solid Waste Association of North America based in Silver Spring, Maryland, told lehighvalleylive.com.
Panto began sounding the alarm about a projected increase in the city’s garbage collection during city council meetings in June, and reiterated his concerns at last Tuesday’s council committee meeting. Easton has a three-year collection contract with Republic Services that is coming to an end.
The mayor said he expects to know more about what the increase could mean for residents as the 2024 city budget proposal comes together ahead of its presentation to the city council Oct. 1.
Panto is also raising concerns about a trend among trash-collection companies to go with what’s called an automated truck that picks up a certain type of bin and dumps it into the truck. The issue in Easton is its narrow streets, some of which were laid out in the 18th century for horses and carts that could make the new trucks impractical in every neighborhood, the mayor said.
“That’s definitely been a national trend … not only for waste but also for recycling and even yard waste,” O’Brien from SWANA said. “The general reason for that is … you can go from three persons per truck to one person, so you get a significant reduction in labor costs and significant improvements in safety.”
Republic Services did not respond to a request for comment on Easton’s collection contract.
Upper Mount Bethel Township under a three-year contract that started this year with WM, formerly Waste Management, passed along to residents a nearly 116% increase in the cost of trash and recycling collection, going from $225 per household in 2022 to $485 this year. Additional increases are planned in 2024 and 2025.
Bethlehem had to absorb a 53.5% increase in its recycling contract under a new $3.5 million contract for 2023 and 2024 with Republic Services of NJ LLC, doing business as Raritan Valley Disposal. Residents saw their recycling fees rise from $70 to $90 per home, paid quarterly as part of city water/sewer/stormwater bills.
Forks Township has also warned residents of increasing trash and recycling costs following a five-year contract expiring in August.
Labor costs have been rising for refuse collection as the “truck driver industry is kind of aging out and fewer people are getting into the industry,” O’Brien said. Rising equipment costs and supply chain issues are also driving up expenses, as are fuel costs. Also contributing to rising rates are hauling companies buying others out and reducing competition in the marketplace, he noted.
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at [email protected].
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