Wheaton picks new trash hauler
What has four wheels and flies with a blue, 65-gallon container?
The new garbage trucks that will soon be scavenging on Wheaton streets.
There was a lot of trash talking on the Wheaton City Council Monday night.
Some residents hailed the switch to a new trash hauler as a sign the city is committed to "green" policies. Others booed the move as an unfair financial burden on residents who can't possibly recycle more.
The council voted 5-2 in favor of a five-year contract with a new trash hauler, Veolia. The company will provide new, 65-gallon recycling carts to every resident in hopes of reversing falling recycling rates in the city.
The recycling carts are larger than any receptacle Wheaton residents have ever had. With the carts will come higher than ever average trash costs.
According to city staff estimates, the average resident will spend $265 a year on garbage costs, under the new contract. That's about an $81 increase in the first year of the contract.
Costs will increase every year of the contract by a notable amount. Wheaton officials said they believe the impact of the increases will be lessened as residents recycle more and have less garbage.
Wheaton uses a pay-as-you-go sticker system.
Starting July 1, refuse and yard waste stickers will be $2.92 each. Leaf stickers will be $2.45 each. Both are increases over current prices.
In the last year of the contract, 2012-2013, refuse and yard waste stickers will be $3.48. Leaf stickers will be $2.86.
Councilmen Howard Levine and Tom Mouhelis both voted against the contract. They said the price increase is too much to pay for a program that forces larger recycling carts on residents just on the hope that it increases recycling.
"I don't believe that the recycling decrease in Wheaton is due solely to the fact that people do not have a large enough container," Levine said.
The city could've stuck with its current trash program at a lower price. However, residents were set to pay significantly more in either scenario.
Veolia will track recycling in the city and provide an update in a year to see if the larger recycling carts pay off.