Maltez to Again Talk Trash with Town Meeting

Reading, MA — Town manager Fidel Maltez shared his intention to reintroduce an article that will ask November Town Meeting to allocate $900,000 for the purchase of trash and recycling bins for each household in Reading. In a presentation provided to the Reading Post, which has also been shared with the Select Board and the Finance Committee, Maltez noted that a similar article, which failed to achieve the two-thirds vote required to pass at April Town Meeting, still garnered ninety-three votes in the affirmative, against sixty-two in the negative.

The new barrels will allow for automated trash collection from homes, which trash contractors deem to be a more efficient and, thus, more affordable method of trash removal.

The measure, if approved, would authorize the town to provide one sixty-four-gallon trash barrel and one sixty-four-gallon recycling barrel to each home in Reading. Homes will be allowed to “lease” an additional trash barrel for $200 a year, which would be used to cover the increased cost of gathering and disposing of the additional trash. Residents can also purchase $2.00 “overflow” bags as needed for special occasions. Homes may ask to receive one additional recycle barrel at no additional cost. Smaller trash barrels will be available to residents who desire them on a case-by-case basis.

Maltez indicated that charging for additional trash barrels is a “best practice” used by other towns to help residents change their practices at home to lean more towards recycling. “There is a lot of apprehension from residents thinking they need a second barrel when the reality is ninety percent of the year they don’t need a second barrel,” Maltez explained.

When asked why he is bringing this article back so soon, Maltez said, “We have no choice.” As Reading prepares to negotiate a new waste management contract in the coming year, it has been discovered that all local trash collection companies will demand automated collection from customers. Maltez continued sharing that this is in the context of the fact that trash collection costs are already likely to increase significantly in the next contract. “[Automated collection] is going to happen,” Maltez stated.

By introducing automated collection prior to it being required, Maltez hopes to avoid rollout issues that have occurred in other communities like Danvers, where barrel purchase costs have been placed on residents due to a budget crunch, which has pitted trash collection issues against school department budgetary needs. “This [type of issue] is what will happen if nothing is done,” Maltez continued. He also stressed that it is more cost-effective to do this now and that early adoption of automation will make the town’s bid more attractive to contractors.

One primary difference in the proposal this time around is using free cash reserves to fund the initiative instead of seeking to borrow the funding needed. Use of free cash only requires a majority vote of Town Meeting.

Maltez shared that he has listened to and addressed many of the concerns expressed in April. These include “Why do this now?” and “What will the town do with the revenue gained from the fee for the extra barrels?” Another question arose in April regarding why residents could not be tasked with acquiring the necessary barrels themselves at a local retailer. Maltez stressed that there is an operational difficulty in verifying that each home has purchased the correct barrels. 

“This way, we will know it is the correct barrel as it has the town seal right on it,” Maltez said.

Maltez also emphasized that trash will not be tracked and that RFID chips in barrels are only used to verify that each home has received a barrel. Maltez also affirmed the positive environmental effect of the new system. “This is not a system to give barrels to residents,” Maltez stated. “It is a tool for solid waste. This is a process. We are trying to control the amount of solid waste that is put out. We are going to go from essentially an unlimited amount of trash to only town-issued barrels.”

Several public forums on the trash barrels are planned, along with a demonstration of the barrels at several community events this fall. Maltez added that any resident with questions is welcome to contact him personally with their concerns.

If the article is approved by Town Meeting, the rollout of the new barrels is expected to occur in the spring of 2024.