By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
Township Council members are starting the process of putting together specifications for new trash collection contracts.
Township Manager Matt Watkins began the discussion during a work session Tuesday night.
Mr. Watkins said he is starting now in order to put a bid together that can go out in June or July and be back well before trash collection contracts end in December.
The new contracts will begin in January 2012, according to Mr. Watkins.
The discussion, Mr. Watkins said, will give the administration a direction as to what the town wants to see included in the new contracts and what services it might change.
Mr. Watkins asked the council to concentrate on four areas, including brush, recycling, bulk and white item pickups.
Currently, the town picks up bulk and recycling once a week and also has weekly appointments for white goods like refrigerators or washers and dryers, according to Mr. Watkins.
Mr. Watkins said Middlesex County no longer accepts brush collection at the landfill in East Brunswick and the township’s Public Works Department has been picking up the brush weekly and taking it to the recycling center on New Road.
The council agreed to change the brush pickup to twice a year in the new contract and will farm the collection work out to a vendor once the new contract starts next year, Public Affairs Coordinator Ron Schmalz said.
Bulk items, like sofas, tables, etc., would be picked up once a month in the new contract, and white goods collection would be subcontracted to a vendor, Mr. Watkins said.
In the case of white goods, the town would negotiate the rate for the service, but residents would call to arrange for the removal of the item and then be billed for the collection fee, Mr. Watkins said.
Public Works Director Ray Olson said the township spent $93,000 collecting white goods last year, which averaged about $75 per call.
”This is where the big expense comes in,” Mr. Olson said.
Another potential change would be going from “multi-stream” recycling pickups once a week to a single stream collection using the existing containers.
The advantage to the new system would be that all recyclable items would be placed in a single container and would not have to be sorted, according to Mr. Watkins.
Mr. Watkins said the township has a very large compliance rate with the current recycling program, and it is one of the best in the county. Mr. Watkins said the council will look into other issues regarding waste collection in the coming months in order to have the new bid specifications ready by fall.

