Massachusetts town continues waste management services with Republic Services

The city of Canton, Massachusetts, has announced it will continue using Republic Services of Phoenix for its waste management. The $2.08 million contract was approved last week and takes effect July 1, says Financial Director William R. Scollins.

“They have been a great representative among the townspeople,” Scollins says. “These services are personal, and Republic had gotten positive feedback from our residents.”

The contract is for three years and is covered through the city’s general fund. At the end of the three years, the city can renew the contract or can seek other providers. Republic also provided the town with containers, and at the end of the contract, the town will own them, Scollins says.

“If we went with a different provider, we wouldn’t have fully owned those containers, and that played a role in our selection of Republic,” he adds.

Republic Services will oversee the waste management services for the town’s 23,629 residents, and collection will be done daily. This includes collecting and disposing of trash from residents, residential curbside recycling, Canton Park trash collection, roll-off containers for the Pine Street recycling facility, town e-scrap and recycling of televisions and computers. Collection routes will remain the same, and service will not be interrupted.

Dan Higgins, the municipal services manager for Republic, says the company is pleased to retain the town of Canton’s business, the Canton Citizen reports.

The main change in the contract is that Republic will transfer recyclables to a material recovery facility (MRF) operated by Waste Management (WM) of Houston. WM will oversee the processing of recyclables. Scollins says the cost of WM’s recycling services are based on tonnage, ranging between $100,000 to $200,000 annually. 

“The rate varies because Waste Management goes through each ton to see what is recyclable and what isn’t,” Scollins says. “Depending on what is in the ton, if it's contaminated or not, the price could rise.”

Officials are planning to educate residents on what they can and can’t recycle to make sure costs are low for the city. Republic Services will work with the town’s Sustainability Committee, made up volunteers from the community, to reduce the volume of trash by educating residents on materials reuse. Educational materials include pamphlets and flyers.

“We want to focus on encouraging diligent recycling,” Scollins says. “Our Sustainability Committee is active in citizen education and boosting recycling efforts. Republic Services assisting us will be a big help.”

The town contract with Republic is almost $1.9 million more than its previous contract, which was $1.9 million. Scollins says the increase is because prevailing wages have increased, which means the city has to pay more for the hauling of recyclables.

Scollins says that the town and Republic Services have been working together for longer than six years.

“The town has been very satisfied with Republic,” Scollins says. “They’ve been very accommodating despite additional costs they’ve incurred because of market changes. They’ve been a good business partner to the town.”