Burlington is considering changing the way residents' household waste is collected

July 12, 2021 03:00:06 PM

The City of Burlington is getting closer to implementing a system for the consolidated collection of waste, following a study and in-house evaluation of the feasibility and benefits of such a system.

The Burlington Department of Public Works and Tweeted that they and the South Burlington Department of Public Works will present on consolidated collection at Monday's City Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

What is consolidated collection?

The departments have been studying potential benefits of streamlining waste collection for residential household trash, recyclables and food scraps, according to the Burlington City website. Currently, DPW only collects recyclables, while private contractors collect and haul garbage and compost.

"Current collection of residential trash, recycling and compost in the City of Burlington is fragmented, inefficient and costly," stated Chapin Spencer, the director of public works, and Lee Perry, assistant director of the DPW Maintenance Commission, in a July Memorandum. "Through our consultant’s study and our own in-house evaluation, we are confident that a fully consolidated collection system will improve convenience, reduce environmental and community impacts, and save residents money."

The city is pursuing possibilities for consolidated collection following a 2018 City Council resolution to determine whether consolidating waste collection could reduce environmental impacts, lower costs for residents and improve infrastructure. Early in 2019, Chittenden Solid Waste District hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for Burlington and South Burlington, which has determined a handful of benefits.

Public input will guide the city's next steps, according to their site. The district's request for proposal listed the following objectives for consolidated collection:

"Reduced environmental costs of excess truck traffic.
Reduced costs to residents and haulers through more efficient collection routes.
Reduced infrastructure impacts of excess truck traffic.
Increased recycling through direct and consistent education to residents.
Reduced litter and increased recycling using wheeled carts by all residents.
Increased diversion by using consolidated collection as the most cost-effective mechanism to add collection of food scraps.
Increased safety on local roads.
Reduced noise in neighborhoods.
Better compliance with state and local mandates."

What might consolidated collection look like for residents?

Consolidated Collection could take one of four possible forms, according to the Burlington City's website:

Franchise Model – A municipality contracts with one or more private haulers to collect curbside trash, recycling, and compost. This model was studied by consultant GBB for Burlington and South Burlington in 2019 and 2020.
Franchise Model with City Bid – Similar to franchised model, except the municipality retains the right to bid on districts against private haulers to collect trash, recycling and compost.
Municipal Operation Model – The municipality itself provides all aspects of trash, recycling, and compost collection, including oversight, customer service, scheduling, and billing. This is the model the Transportation, Energy & Utilities Committee supported 2-1.
Hybrid Municipal/Franchise Model – Collection of different waste streams would be consolidated separately. For Burlington, this option would have recycling remain a municipally-collected service and trash and compost services would be franchised to private haulers. This is the model DPW has recommended to the DPW Commission and the Transportation, Energy, & Utilities Committee. This received support at the DPW Commission in a 5-1 vote.

The city is currently briefing the Neighborhood Planning Assemblies and the City Council is expected to vote on the matter this month and to provide further direction in August. Depending on the model adopted, implementation is expected to take about 3-5 years.

Residents interested in attending the meeting tonight may do so in person or via a Town Meeting TV YouTube live stream, according to the Department of Public Works Tweet.

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