NEW MILFORD — The town used to be able to sell the glass, cardboard and other recyclables brought to the center for a profit.
But with restrictions coming from China, towns are now paying to have those items taken, creating losses and prompting them to look for other options. It’s the main reason New Milford is looking for a company to take over the recycling center’s operations, while still leaving some town control as part of a public-private partnership.
“It’s really the only way we can keep on doing it and not have it cost the taxpayers more money,” said Katy Francis, a town councilwoman and longtime member of the recycling committee.
New Milford is the latest town in Connecticut making the switch to a public-private partnership for the recycling center, a move that is generally cost motivated.
“I think overall, at some point, this may become more popular for towns to turn over operations or become regionalized,” said Jack Healy, New Milford’s public works director.
New Milford Town Council approved the idea for a private company to take over operations and gave the go-ahead for requests for quotes from potential operators.
The actual transition schedule will be determined after interviews with the potential companies and negotiations, but Healy said the goal is to have the private company in place in three to six months. The town would move the two employees at its recycling center to other areas of the Public Works Department.
New Milford has been considering the change for several months now as a way to save money.
“The initial catalyst was the change in the recycling market,” Healy said. “The market has just collapsed.”
He said it’s hard to say how much money the town has lost because of that.
Mayor Pete Bass said it would be good to have someone overseeing the recycling business 24/7, given how volatile the market is right now. He estimates the move would save the town at least $30,000 to $50,000 in the beginning.
How it works
Each town handles their public-private partnership differently, depending on the contract negotiated with the private operator. Generally that company staffs the center and hauls the items brought in, while the town maintains ownership of the site itself. The minor changes are how each entity makes money, who is responsible for maintaining the equipment and whether the company leases the property.
New Milford would have to negotiate these items with the company it selects, Healy said, adding the Town Council would also still have final approval on setting the fees.
In Killingly, the town owns the property and maintains the site, while the contractor maintains the compactor. The town pays the company for the operating services and hauling, and the town keeps the fees residents pay to use the center. The town was also getting the money from selling the materials brought in when there was a market for it, said David Capacchione, Killingly’s director of engineering and facilities.
Bulky waste is really the only item that’s brought to Norwich’s transfer station that has a profit, which the contractor is able to keep, said Patrick McLaughlin, Norwich’s public works director.
The biggest challenge was the new private workers getting familiar with which people coming to the transfer station were residents, but he said even that wasn’t that difficult.
“It was a pretty seamless transition,” McLaughlin said.
Saving money
For many of the towns currently using this operational model, the switch was made to save money on the labor side.
Killingly made the switch to a private contractor about 20 years ago. Capacchione wasn’t working in the department then, and assumes the company was brought on because it’s generally cheaper to use a company instead of town employees due to wage differences and benefits.
The current recycling market, the cost to do business and the town’s participation rate has caused the town to subsidize the center about $300,000 a year. For Killingly, the cheaper avenue would be to expand to curbside pickup throughout the whole town — not go back to the town model.
Norwich made the switch on July 1, 2017. It had been included in a citywide bid in 2015 for automated curbside pickup, but it took a some time for the transfer station portion due to union negotiations, McLaughlin said.
He estimates the city saves about $150,000 a year by not staffing it themselves. There were two city employees who staffed it full-time with overtime so that it could be open Monday through Saturday. During the move, the two positions were cut from the city budget and covered with a retirement and not filling a vacancy.
“The benefits have been the cost savings,” McLaughlin said. “Other than that, there’s not a lot of change otherwise.”
Norwich uses Willimantic Waste Paper Co., which is one of the biggest companies in trash pickup and recycling. McLaughlin said he knows of other towns that use the business too. The company lists Hartford, New London, Tolland and Windham counties as its service area.
Capacchione estimates it’s split fairly evenly between town employees or private companies operating the transfer and recycling centers in northeastern Connecticut.
“The big question is cost savings,” McLaughlin said. “That’s the incentive for doing it.”
kkoerting@newstimes.com
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