AMHERST — A request for proposals for a pay-as-you-throw system to collect trash and recyclables, and possibly compost, at the curb of just over 5,000 Amherst homes could mean the end of household trash drop-off at the Belchertown Road transfer station.
The Town Council’s Town Services and Outreach Committee, after several meetings, is finalizing what it wants in the request. The bids it draws would show whether it makes financial sense to pursue a new system meant to incentivize homeowners and renters to cut down on the amount of waste they produce.
In all likelihood, if the town finds a vendor, the transfer station would close to household trash, even though more than a quarter of residents — those who don’t hire a private hauler or don’t live in apartment complexes or other buildings with their own service — now bring their trash there.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring told the committee that in the earlier request for interest, potential bidders said they wouldn’t take part if the town kept the transfer station open for household trash.
Under any scenario, the station would remain open for municipal trash collected by the DPW, Mooring said.
District 4 Councilor Jennifer Taub, a member of the TSO Committee, said the transfer station should stay open to everyone for large items. But closing it to regular trash is necessary so a vendor knows how many households are in the program, she said.
Mimi Kaplan, a consultant with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, is writing the request for proposal, and a final draft is expected this fall. The committee could review the latest draft at its meeting Thursday.
The committee has made some decisions, such as providing 45-gallon carts for trash and larger carts for recyclables, though there are questions about how frequently pickups are made and whether the trash and recyclables will be part of a single stream or a dual stream.
District 3 Councilor George Ryan, who chairs the committee, said he favors collection every other week to limit the environmental impact of trucks on the streets.
The goal of pay-as-you-throw is to get households to throw out less, reducing the town’s reliance on landfills and incinerators and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently, USA Waste and Recycling is the only company licensed by the town for residential service. It offers subscription pickup of trash, recycling and food waste. Other companies service apartment complexes and businesses.
Eric Fredrickson, vice president of USA, told the Town Council at a recent meeting that his company is worried about the town’s actions on this endeavor.
“Based on the draft RFP and the published reports, we’re deeply concerned that Amherst is heading in a direction that could undo decades of progress on sustainability and worker safety,” Fredrickson said.
He pointed to the request’s focus on the lowest price per household, the possibility of manual collection and the sale of overflow bags, which he said put collection workers at risk in ways automated collection doesn’t.
Companies also need to know whether access to the transfer station will be limited or whether the roughly 2,000 residents with permits could still use it, he said.
Zero Waste Amherst, which has been pushing for this, contends that Amherst is throwing out about twice as much trash as it should.
One point of debate is how soon curbside composting could begin.
Susan Waite, a municipal assistance coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said there are concerns about adding compost collection with so many other changes looming.
“This project is going to require a lot of change on many, many peoples’ parts,” Waite said.
Mooring said there is enough information to issue the request and find out whether curbside compost pickup could start immediately or later.
At-large Councilor Andy Churchill said composting is key to pay-as-you-throw because without it, larger families would struggle.
“If you phase in composting… then pay-as-you-throw is just punishing big families,”
Churchill said.
Mooring, though, said offering people recycling is already making it easier to reduce what is being thrown out.
“As you reduce the size of the trash can, you’re encouraging people to put more in the recycling cans,” Mooring said.
