Western Massachusetts trash: Destination Wilbraham? USA Waste & Recycling vying for municipal recycling contracts

WILBRAHAM — In the midst of a municipal recycling crisis, much more of the region’s trash may be headed to the transfer station at 120 Old Boston Road.

Not to stay. The site is a stopover until trash and recyclables move toward their final destinations — which are no longer China, India or other Asian nations that had been stalwarts in the global recycling landscape until recently.

As many local cities and towns look for alternatives to rising hauling costs, companies like USA Waste & Recycling, owner of the Wilbraham depot, have new opportunities to compete to meet that demand.

“The reduced global demand for recycling material has definitely created a trickle-down effect that has left municipalities looking for alternative ways to maintain viable recycling programs in their communities,” said Jonathan Murray, operations manager for USA Waste’s Wilbraham transfer station.

In response to the changing market, the Connecticut-based firm has proposed a significant expansion to its Western Recyclables facility, requesting state approval to nearly quadruple the maximum tonnage of solid waste, construction and demolition debris, “lightly contaminated soil,” and “bulky waste,” like carpet or furniture, according to the company’s submission. The site does not accept asbestos.

Currently the station is permitted by the state Department of Environmental Protection to receive and transfer an average of 500 tons of waste per day (up to a maximum of 645 tons per day). USA Waste aims to boost that to 2,000 tons per day. The application also seeks to expand the station’s hours of operation.

The company’s proposal includes a traffic assessment, which estimates the increase will trigger up to 432 truck trips per day. The site currently relies on rail service to transfer waste and recyclables to other sites for processing.

Susan Bunnell, chairwoman of the Wilbraham Board of Selectmen, said the town formed a study group months ago to examine the proposed expansion and gauge any pitfalls.

“Concerns were understandable because of the type of waste that’s being handled,” Bunnell said. “Construction and demolitions waste tends to be much smellier and messier than municipal solid waste.”

Bunnell and Wilbraham’s Department of Public Works director, Tonya Basch, said they and other members of the working group have personally gotten in their cars to observe the level of noise, smell and traffic spikes around the transfer station’s peak hours.

“We want to see it with our own eyes and smell it with our own noses,” Basch said. “We have a responsibility to the public as well as to the applicant.”

The recycling crunch cost the town an annual $40,000 payment for recyclables it once received from the state-owned Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) on Birnie Avenue in Springfield. And like many other communities around the region, it was simultaneously faced with a budget buster to find a way to pay for a previously free service.

The domestic recycling conundrum began two years ago, when China announced it would no longer accept paper and plastics in bulk, prompting a collapse in the national recyclables market — where certain trash was traded much like any other commodity. Plastics, paper, glass and aluminum cans, once an opportunity for resale and profit, have been rendered essentially worthless.

The international shift in practice had a big impact on local communities as recycling expenses have soared for vendors in waste management and consumers.

Cities and towns that once paid nothing for recycling services — or in some cases, received modest revenues off collections — are now experiencing sticker shock as vendors boost their fees to haul and process recyclables.

Waste Management, the state contractor that runs the MRF, jacked up its prices to cover its own losses when the recycling market bottomed out. The MRF has agreements with 74 cities and towns across Western Massachusetts, and some of them are now bailing out.

As communities look elsewhere, Murray said USA Waste has bid on contracts for recycling collection in Longmeadow and East Longmeadow. An affiliate, Murphy Road Recycling, has bid on recycling processing contracts in Springfield, Agawam, West Springfield, Westfield, Chicopee and Ludlow.

Wilbraham has already inked a memorandum of understanding with USA Waste to process its recyclables at 120 Old Boston Road. USA Waste has agreed to pay Wilbraham 15 cents per ton of out-of-town garbage that is processed there.

Wilbraham did not put its contract out to bid, as trash removal and remediation is exempted under state bidding laws. Other municipalities have opted to put the service out to bid anyhow.

Springfield DPW Director Chris Cignoli said that city is close to choosing between two vendors: USA Waste & Recycling and Casella Waste Systems. Cignoli said sticking with Waste Management would have cost Springfield nearly $1.2 million annually.

“This city generates about 8,000 tons of recyclables per year. … That’s not the kind of money I can find hiding somewhere else in my budget,” Cignoli said.

The application for the expansion of USA Waste’s Wilbraham site sits with the state now. The town Board of Health ultimately will hold a public hearing run by a special hearing officer to entertain public concerns over the project.

“This request is still subject to multiple layers of state, town and public review,” Murray said. “We look forward to working with the town throughout this process to make sure we get this right. We have had a great experience working in this community and we want to make sure we continue to be good corporate citizens.”

Bunnell and Basch both said the parameters set by the state to block an application linked to a site that has already, in many ways, proven itself, are fairly strict.

“It’s not a popularity contest. We don’t get to say: ‘We don’t like traffic, we don’t like trash.’ It doesn’t work that way,” Basch said.

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