Recycling Numbers Skyrocket in First Year of New Contract

Quincy Highlighted by DOR for Innovative Contract

QUINCY - Mayor Thomas Koch announced that City residents increased household recycling by 700 tons and reduced garbage by more than 2,000 tons in the first year of a new regional trash collection contract.

Officials believe the recycling number to be a record, producing total savings of $310,000 for taxpayers. That number is over and above cost reductions to date from the new trash contract that combined the buying power of Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth.

"These are great numbers, for both our environment and our pocketbook. It shows clearly what coming together and working in the best interest of the City can do," Koch said. "This is only the beginning, though. We expect to continue increase recycling, and reduce trash, in the years ahead."

Koch, Mayor Sue Kay of Weymouth and Mayor Joseph Sullivan of Braintree negotiated a first-of-its-kind regional contract with Capitol Waste Services, Inc., last year. With three cities together at the bargaining table, officials secured a very favorable contract despite the economic climate and industry-wide cost increases, Koch said.

The contract also included a provision that actually pays back the City for every ton that it recycles at a time when most communities are actually paying $60 a ton to dispose of recyclable material, said John Sullivan, program manager for the Department of Public Works.

The reduction in garbage produced by residents amounted to $206,000 in savings on trash collection, and the increase in recycling produced $104,000 in revenue, combining for the $310,000 in total savings.

The new recycling program, called "single-stream," allows residents to place all recyclable material in a single container without sorting. Officials encourage residents to use one of their existing trash barrels for recyclables and affix a sticker distributed by the DPW on it to identify it as a recycling container.