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The current waste and recycling curbside pick-up and disposal contract will expire in the next year and four months. The actual contract expires next May but the Board of Supervisors has an option to extend it one year which the Board will do. Many of you have probably seen the substantial increase in new contracts that have been awarded in other municipalities and we will most likely be facing an increase when we award the new contract.

The Environmental Steering Committee has begun the review of our waste and recycle statistics as they begin their discussions on how the Board should bid their next contract. They will be reviewing the current programs within our existing contract to see how we can keep any increase to a minimum.

 

The figure above shows the total curbside waste for each year since 2000 against the total recycled materials picked-up. The recyclables are those picked up at the curb and dropped off at the recycle center on Hartley Ave. Both the waste and recyclables for 2005 are an estimate based on 10 months of actual figures. You will note that there has been an increase in waste the last two years. There also has been an increase in the amount of recyclables picked up and dropped off. The upward trend in the recycle percentage from 2003 is very positive and will need to continue if we expect to be able to reduce our waste cost.

When we looked at the recycle percentage we questioned if this is where we should be. So, one of the members conducted a seven week analysis of his waste to recycle ratio. This is a family of two adults who recycle all of the items that will be accepted in the recycle stream. Below is the result of the analysis. In this case the average recycle percentage is 41% versus the 24% that we have seen over the past six years. If we could increase our overall recycling to 40% we could reduce our waste disposal by 26% which will mean real saving to each household.
The largest amount of recycling is through curbside pick-up as noted in the graph below. However, we have seen an increase in the number of visits to the drop off center. Also, this year we held our first e-cycling event and took many electronic devices out of the waste stream. We plan to continue this event on a yearly basis.
In the past the township has worked to remove yard waste specially tree and brush waste by opening the yard waste recycling center. However, as shown by the graph below we still have a substantial amount of yard waste in the curbside stream. The difference between the monthly average for April to September is 210 tons per month higher than the average for the months of October to March. Therefore, we have to assume that a high percentage of that difference is yard waste. To gain savings we need to figure out how to lower the difference. The Environmental Steering Committee will be looking at alternatives on how to make this happen.
Through the next year, as we prepare for the next contact, we will be providing more information on how to reduce waste thus saving money for the residents of the township by minimizing the future costs of waste collection and disposal.