Trash In West Orange: Industry Costs Are Rising, Consultant Says

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Trash removal doesn’t come cheap. And prices are only going to rise in the future, a consultant said during a meeting of the West Orange Town Council earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Wayne DeFeo of environmental consulting firm DeFeo Associates gave a presentation to the council about trash and recycling collection in the township.

According to DeFeo, West Orange has an “extraordinarily high level of service for solid waste and recycling collection,” which is on par or better than nearly all of the surrounding communities.

He presented a slide that lists the current solid waste and recycling services in the township, which can be seen below.

However – with rising fuel, labor and equipment costs in the trash collection and recycling industry, as well as the recent “departure” of some low-priced companies from the industry – towns across New Jersey have been facing price increases between 33 and 150 percent for recent bids, DeFeo said.

According to DeFeo, there are steps that West Orange could take to try and keep the costs of trash and recycling down, such as moving to a once-weekly waste collection schedule and reducing the frequency of bulk collection. But even if these austerity measures are taken, the town would still likely find itself facing rising prices.

“The question is, how much would it go up?” he said.

GOING IN-HOUSE

What if West Orange took care of its own trash, instead of hiring an outside company to do the dirty work?

DeFeo provided some rough figures that outlined the potential cost of bringing solid waste collection “in house,” which would come to $15 million per year. The town currently pays about $3 million.

There are also other considerations, such as parking for the trucks and hiring staff, which was a consistent problem during the pandemic.

According to township attorney Richard Trenk, the discussion on Tuesday was only for informational purposes. However, West Orange will ultimately face the task of taking bids for garbage collection later this year, he added.

Watch a video of the discussion below.

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