An agreement between Casella Waste Systems and the city of Westbrook to implement curbside recycling has been upgraded to a whole new automated trash and recycling program.
According to City Administrator Jerre Bryant, recent negotiations have resulted in an agreement that Casella will foot the upfront investment in trash bins and trucks for the automated program, which will cost the city less than its current trash and recycling program.
Bryant said trash and recycling currently costs the city about $1 million per year. The new program, to begin in the fall, would cost about $950,000.
Each home will receive two wheeled carts – one for trash and one for recycling – which will be dumped into a single truck equipped with an automated arm that is operated by the driver to pick up the bins. Such programs are already in place in Scarborough, Saco and South Portland.
Casella signed on to providing recycling in Westbrook in September as part of a 20-year agreement between the city and the waste management company, which plans to build a construction and demolition processing facility, as well as a recycling drop-off station for residents and businesses, off County Road.
The agreement ended a years-long debate between the City Council and Mayor Bruce Chuluda about the best way to implement curbside recycling in the city. Bryant said an automated program was discussed at the time, but was deemed too expensive up front.
Dan Emerson, general manager of the processing facility, said some 12,000 bins and three automated trucks will cost the company about $1.4 million, and “there is no catch.”
“It’s fruitful for us to do that for the city and move that project forward,” he said.
An expansion of the plan for the facility, from 27,000 to 48,000 square feet, was recently approved by the Planning Board. Emerson said the company decided it would need more space for its equipment and operations on County Road, but that the use of the facility is not changing.
Some changes for trash collection in the city, however, will come with the new program. Bryant said the city will not pay for trash collection for residential complexes with more than six units. Currently, the city provides trash pick-up for buildings with up to 10 units. He said the change would affect 23 properties and a total of 261 units.
The implementation of the automated trash and recycling program is scheduled to coincide with the opening of the County Road facility in October.
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