Public Comment: It’s Time to Renew Support for Waste Hauler Reform
Photos: courtesy of City of Minneapolis and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio.
The following public comment was made at the meeting of the Amherst Board of Health on June 5, 2024.
My name is Darcy DuMont and I am commenting on behalf of Zero Waste Amherst. Our request to the Board of Health (BOH) today is to renew your support of the waste hauler proposal that is being considered in the Town Council and that the BOH has previously supported. Zero Waste Amherst provided a full presentation to the BOH in October of 2021.
At the urging of the BOH and Town Councilor sponsors, the council took up the proposal in August of 2022. It was referred from the Town Council to a subcommittee at that time. It would, if adopted, significantly reduce our trash and climate emissions by requiring the town to switch from the current system of subscription hauling services to a town contract with the hauler, obtained through a competitive bidding process, that would include a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) fee structure and universal curbside compost pick up. Currently, residents must either contract directly with USA Hauling and Recycling (USA) or haul their waste to the Transfer Station.
The proposal is sponsored by Councilors Jennifer Taub, Ellisha Walker and Andy Steinberg, and by community sponsor Zero Waste Amherst. Former Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne is a former sponsor.
There was an attempt to remedy a major sticking point for the proposal last August when the Town Council voted unanimously to recommend that the Town Manager get cost information from haulers by issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) from area haulers. The council then voted funds from last year’s budget to cover the cost of a consultant to do that. That has not yet been done.
Zero Waste Amherst has been promoting this proposal for many years now.
It has very broad support including from official town organizations like the Board of Health and the Energy and Climate Action Committee, and from area civic organizations including the League of Women Voters, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Grow Food Amherst, the Common Share Food Coop, and many faith based organizations. Consideration of the proposal has been in the Town Manager’s annual goals for several years and is specifically an action proposed in the town’s Climate Action, Adaptation and Resilience Plan.
As mentioned, it would SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE our waste – up to 40% – by each of the two actions – using a PAYT fee structure and diverting compostable materials from the trash. Doing nothing basically washes the towns’ hands of responsibility for waste reduction.
We are also of the opinion, based on other models of this program, that such a program would pay for itself and that most residents who currently use a hauler would save money on their hauling bills.
You can find more information about the bylaw proposal on the ZWA website.
Again, Zero Waste Amherst urges the Board to renew your support for this exciting proposal. I would be glad to answer questions later in the meeting if you so choose. Thank you.
Darcy DuMont is a former town councilor and sponsor of the legislation creating the Amherst Energy and Climate Action Committee. She is a founding member of Zero Waste Amherst, Local Energy Advocates of Western MA, and a non-voting member of Valley Green Energy Working Group. She can be contacted at dumint140@gmail.com
At least as of a few years ago the was no competition for waste hauling in the Amherst area. USA bought out the other local haulers when they came to this area.
I have a contract with USA, a binding contract. Is the Town proposing to invalidate this contract and the contracts all the other USA customers have?
Figuring out a way to get actual competition would be the first step, with the assumption, if food waste is going to required, that bear proof containers have to be provided for food waste. Bears are all over Amherst including downtown.
After prices are obtained then there can be a public discussion about whether this a good idea.
Absolutely. The cost information is needed first so let’s get that done.
One of the initial concerns about this proposal was that no other haulers would be interested in bidding. But this concern has been laid to rest. The town put out an RFI (not asking for cost information but just for interest) and heard from USA, Republic and Casella that they would bid on such a proposal.
There is no more reason for bears to come after separated food scraps than after a trash bag full of food scraps. That’s what most people in Amherst are doing now – adding a HUGE amount of compostable material to their trash – compost that could be diverted to good use.