Berlin to Get New Curbside Recycling Bins

Starting in a few months curbside recycling will get a bit easier for everyone.

Beginning July 1, when a new recycling program goes into effect, residents here will get new, larger recycling bins under an expanded “single-stream” recycling program the town has approved.

has entered into a new contract with its waste hauler, Trash Away Inc., of New Britain, and under the contract Trash Away will provide larger bins for recyclables.

The town currently has single stream recycling and under the initiative residents have small, blue containers in which they place their recyclables for bi-weekly curbside pickup. Starting in July, the contractor will provide 64-gallon and 96-gallon containers instead. Besides being larger, those containers also will have wheels to make it easier for resident to bring their recyclables to the curb. In addition, the recycling pickup will become fully automated, meaning Trash Away workers will no longer have to get out of their trucks to pick up the contents of the bins. Instead, the new bins will be picked up by a mechanical arm that extends from the contractor’s trucks and which will dump the contents of the bins into the truck, said James P. Horbal, the deputy public works director.

Under the new initiative, recyclables pickup will remain biweekly (every two weeks) instead of weekly. Regular garbage pickup will remain weekly.

Regular trash pickup will remain on a weekly schedule, Horbal added.

The expanded recycling program aims to encourage greater recycling by residents because the more the town recycles, the more money it saves, he said.

That’s because recycling has become a growth market. Company’s that accept recyclables can turn around and sell some of the used goods. Because of that growth in the market, Horbal said, the town’s new contract with Trash Away calls for the recyclables’ tipping fee to drop from $20 per ton to zero.

It currently costs the town $64.50 per ton to dispose of its household wastes, so by keeping recyclables out of the regular waste stream, the town will save money.

Simply put, he added, for every ton of recyclables that are removed from the waste stream the town will save $64.50.

Residents will receive a notice in the mail about the new program and will be able to choose which size recycling container they want. Those who don’t choose a size will automatically get the larger container, said Deputy Mayor Steve Morelli.