A depiction of the different recycling cart options Longmeadow residents could choose.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
LONGMEADOW — The Longmeadow Select Board provided residents with a little extra time and choice around the new recycling carts required as part of the town’s contract with Waste Management, which begins July 1.
Early this year, Longmeadow engaged Waste Management to haul the town’s recycling. The contract provides for a dual stream automated pickup, which uses trucks outfitted with cameras that use mechanical arms to lift recycling carts, pouring the material into the truck.
Longmeadow is one of three communities in the state to use automated dual stream recycling collection. The contract states that Waste Management will purchase automated trucks for Longmeadow and residents will be required to use specific carts, which the town is purchasing with a grant.
Waste Management offered four different cart sizes to use with the automated trucks. The smallest holds 35 gallons and is 38 inches tall. The next size, a 45-gallon cart, is 39 inches. The 64-gallon cart is 41 inches tall. The largest cart is 45 inches tall and holds 96 gallons. A survey was sent out in a recent water bill to determine resident preferences on recycling cart sizes, and the DPW received 1,377 responses.
At the May 5 Select Board meeting, DPW Business Manager Lisa Okscin reported that 91% of those who responded were in favor of two carts — one for paper and cardboard, and another for plastic and glass — rather than using the same cart for both pickup days. She said they could be different colors, making it easy to see that the right material is out on the right day.
For plastic and glass recyclables, 47% of residents indicated they prefer the 96-gallon cart, while 32% were in favor of the 48-gallon carts.
More than two-thirds of people indicated that they would prefer the largest cart size for cardboard. She said route drivers report issues with overflowing cardboard at pickups. Dealing with the excess adds four hours to routes on cardboard pickup days when compared with container pickup days. For this reason, when asked, Okscin said route drivers recommended 96-gallon carts for cardboard pickup. She said it will also limit the issue of cardboard “crammed” into the smaller carts, making it difficult to fully empty.
Okscin also noted that some residents said they were “excited” for the larger bins, but others were concerned they would not have space to store anything larger than their existing carts.
The DPW recommended the town provide 96-gallon carts for cardboard and 64-gallon ones for containers. After trying them, Okscin said residents could swap out the carts for another size. With six weeks to manufacture the carts and another two for delivery, she urged the board to order them immediately to make Waste Management’s July 1 start date.
The Longmeadow Recycling Commission disagreed with the DPW’s cart size recommendations. After driving each of the recycling routes to see how much material people put out for collection, Recycling Commission Chair Irwin Pers said the commission recommended 64-gallon carts for cardboard and 48-gallon ones for containers. About 20% of the town would need other sizes to fit their needs, he said, and those people could let the town know before the order was placed. Having an accurate estimate of the number of people who need each size, rather than ordering a variety of sizes for anyone who may want to switch to a smaller cart, would save the town money, he said. Select Board Chair Vineeth Hemavathi agreed that collecting cart size requests ahead of ordering the carts was “preferable.”
Select Board member Dan Zwirko asked if people could simply swap carts if neighbors each wanted the size their neighbor had. Recycling Commissioner Arlene Miller said all carts have a serial number tied to an address, so an informal exchange would not work.
Select Board member Josh Levine said that when he filled out the survey, he indicated that he wanted the largest cart, but after seeing it in person at the DPW, he realized it was “massive.” He described them as “half the size of a car.” Levine said he would rather not order two rounds of carts as it would be expensive and “wasteful.” At the same time, he wondered what the town would do with the excess large carts that people turned in and the smaller ones that were never requested.
Okscin also said instead of ordering extra carts in various sizes now, the town to collect feedback and purchase an accurate number of smaller carts at a later date. She noted that while different sized carts are roughly the same price, ordering in bulk saves on shipping costs.
Select Board member Mark Gold agreed with Levine that the 96-gallon carts are overly large and opined that many people would be unhappy with it. He also said the deadline was “artificial” as Waste Management is not expecting the trucks to be ready by July 1. He said the carts are “expensive” at about $50 each.
Okscin reiterated that the carts must be ordered that week in order to meet the contract deadline. She said that the town may have to pay more for hauling until the right bins are available, but Recycling Commissioner Arlene Miller said that was speculation. She suggested that the town could collect requests for other sized carts if Waste Management is willing to agree to a two-week period of manual bin pickup.
Select Board member Andrew Lam asked the commissioners how they would publicize the ability to request a different size cart, how that data would be collected and how fast it could be done. Miller said word could be put out on the town’s social media and via robocall. Residents could add their request to a Google form, which would allow for easy and fast tabulation.
“The best thing we can do for our residents is give them flexibility,” Lam said, adding that he wanted to limit the number of unneeded bins that were ordered.
The board accepted the Recycling Commission’s suggestion and set the default cart sizes of 64-gallons for cardboard and 48 gallons for containers. Residents were given until May 13 to submit requests for alternate sizes and the carts were present at that night’s Town Meeting for people to see in person. The carts are scheduled to arrive on or about July 1.
