Elburn considering adding electronic, household hazardous waste pickup
Elburn trustees are intrigued by a proposal to add household hazardous waste and electronics collection to residents' garbage service.
But they want to know if they could test the program for a year, rather than as part of a request to extend the village's garbage contract five years.
The village's contract with Waste Management expires Oct. 1, 2018. Waste Management has offered to add its At Your Door service for residents in exchange for the village awarding another five-year contract a year early.
Residents would see their monthly bill go up $1.25 a month the first year of the service. That means a household with standard service would pay $19.63 a month.
Residents would call Waste Management to schedule the special waste pickups.
Vaughn Kuerschner, a Waste Management public sector representative, said he will check with the company to see if At Your Door could be added without a contract extension.
Trustee Matthew Wilson suggested the village consider checking the prices and services offered by a relatively new local trash hauler, DC Trash, to see if it could offer the service.
Trustee David Gualdoni said he is worried about saddling residents with extra costs for services they may not use, especially since they would not be able to opt out. He likened it to asking apartment residents to pay a monthly fee for leaf pickup.
Trustee Patricia Schuberg suggested the one-year test.
"This (the fee) is less expensive than (disposing of) one TV," Schuberg said. "And I'd rather have it (hazardous waste) picked up at my door than spend three hours sitting in a line in Naperville."
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has a permanent household hazardous-waste collection site in Naperville. Southern Kane County residents are directed to use that site. For televisions and computer monitors, Kane County has a permanent drop-off site in Geneva, but users have to pay fees of $25 or more per item, depending on the size.