Middletown trash hauling fees rising. Here's what it will cost and the service plans

Middletown's trash hauling fees will be headed higher this year, possibly with less service, and residents are invited to tell the board of supervisors what level of service they'd like in exchange for lower annual price.

Currently, Middletown contracts with Waste Management for twice-weekly service and once-weekly bulk pickups. It costs $401 a year under a contract that was negotiated in 2019, pre-COVID and pre-inflation.

With the contract expiring this summer, the board of supervisors sought bids, and Waste Management offered the lowest prices. The supervisors have posted an online survey to get a sense of what level of service residents want under a new contract.

Here are the options Middletown officials are weighing:

• Maintain existing “manual” service (trash haulers physically lift trash cans/bags/boxes to the truck), which is twice weekly with once-a-week bulk pickup. Cost: $682 to $700 a year, a 70-75 percent jump.
• Twice-weekly automated collection in which the waste truck operator uses a mechanical arm to lift a specially designed cart from curbside to truck. Cost: $644 to $660 per household per year, about a 60-65 percent increase.
• Once-a-week automated collection. Cost: $476 to $512 per household per year, a bump of 19-28 percent.

Township Manager Stephanie Teoli Kuhls said the board is expected to vote on a new trash contract in August.

The online survey remains open, and the results will be disclosed when it closes later this month.

Asked what is driving the costs upward, WM spokesman John Hambrose responded in an email that it's inflation and employee benefits:

"It’s difficult to think of a cost area in our business where we haven’t seen an increase in the last four years ... Labor costs are up, in part because of a shortage of drivers, mechanics and technicians, and in part due to upward pressure on wages created by inflation," he said. " ... We’ve seen the cost of operating our disposal and recycling facilities increase significantly in the last few years."

He said the company is also investing in new recycling technology "that removes more contamination from our inbound recycling material and produces better commodities for our customers that produce new products from recyclable materials."

In Bucks County, WM has municipal service contracts with Bristol and Middletown townships, and Tullytown, Trumbauersville and New Britain boroughs. It offers subscription waste and recycling collection service to residential customers throughout the county.

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.