RECYCLING & GARBAGE

The borough's 5-year contract with Penn Waste will end on October 31st and Casella will begin a 26-month contract (+ a 3-year option to extend). This decision did not come easily. There were many emails & meetings of our Refuse Committee and staff in an effort to create a contract that takes the cost to our residents as well as service into consideration.

There were 3 bidders on our trash & recycling collection contract: Penn Waste, Casella, and ESC Waste Services. The bid specifications offered a one pick-up/week option as well as a two pick-up/week option, and at terms of 26 months with a 3-year extension and a 5-year contract term. Of note, Republic Services picked up a bid packet but submitted a "No Bid" letter to the committee.

Both Penn Waste and Casella bid the one collection/week and two collections/week at both contract term lengths, while ESC Waste only bid one collection/week at both contract term lengths.

Refuse Committee & Council member David Elwell explained,

The 26-month option allows flexibility to potentially enter into an intergovernmental agreement with neighboring municipalities for future trash services at the end of 2027, if Council sees that as a benefit. He noted, there will be a cost increase to the current price of $102.50/quarter even if we "downgrade" to one collection/week. To stay at the current twice/week collection, cost will increase approx. $18.53/household per quarter (or $6.18/month) in the initial year. To go to one collection/week, the price will increase $9.05/household per quarter (or $3.02/month) in the initial year. In the current 5-year contract with Penn Waste, the Borough saw a 5% in-crease per year. Mr. Elwell said Casella offered the lowest price for all bidding options, at only a 2.7% increase over 5 years.

As there was still a cost increase to decrease our collection frequency to one pickup/week, Borough Council opted to remain at the two pickups/week that resi-dents have relied on over the past 5 years. Recycling will continue to be collected on Tuesdays, along with trash. Regular trash will continue to be collected on Fridays as well as 1 bulk item each week.

Casella is very anxious to begin servicing Stewartstown Borough and its residents as of November 1st, 2025. Residents will see the increased trash bill of $121.03/quarter beginning December 1st, 2025. Again, this is an increase of $6.18/month to each household.

Unfortunately, increased costs for trash disposal at the landfill and incinerators, as well as gasoline, personnel and truck repair/service are not coming down. We look forward to working with Casella and believe they will provide great customer service to the Borough & its residents.