Mayor Gary Christenson has proposed the elimination of the PAYT trash program and dual-stream recycling system. The new proposal calls for city issued barrels for both trash and recycling.
“I’m pleased that we were able to come up with a proposal that is acceptable to our trash provider, JRM Hauling and Recycling, Inc. (JRM) and the City,” commented Mayor Christenson. “Make no mistake about it, finding a compromise has been an ongoing and difficult task especially considering the instability in the trash and recycling markets. It has taken more than a dozen meetings with JRM over the past several years to reach this modification.”
Under the Mayor’s proposal, each qualifying residential unit will receive a 65-gallon covered barrel to use for their weekly trash and the City expects that this size container will satisfy the needs of the residents. “We considered a grant that would have funded smaller containers but knew that it would leave too many residents with excess trash to deal with,” said Christenson. “There are some additional costs involved but we have heard from our residents that the inconvenience of obtaining the blue bags and the bags inability to properly contain trash is their number one concern.”
Residents will also be able to recycle using a single-stream method with a city-issued 32-gallon barrel. “We are confident that the conversion from dual-stream to single-stream recycling will be well received by our residents as well,” said Mayor Christenson.”
The proposal includes the addition of a $10 per month solid waste fee to be added onto the water bill of each qualifying residential unit in order to make up for the elimination of the PAYT program.
For more information about the proposal, please visit the City of Malden’s website at www.cityofmalden.org/trash.