City Approves New Garbage Pickup Service

Darien residents will meet a new crew of garbage haulers April 1 after the  voted unanimously Monday to switch waste removal services from Allied Waste to Veolia Environmental.

After entertaining proposals from four companies, including Allied Waste, the Administrative and Finance Committee determined that Veolia’s bid provided the best value for residents, said Assistant City Administrator Scott Coren.

“We are sticking with volume-based [waste removal] because we feel it best serves our residents,” Mayor Kathleen Weaver said.

Veolia will offer a sticker system much like the one Allied Waste employs, Coren said. Veolia said in its proposal that it will charge $2.79 per sticker during the first year of its contract. The price gradually will increase to $3.18 per sticker in 2014. Allied Waste proposed charging $3.10 per sticker starting in April, Coren said.

Residents will also have the option of renting a 64-gallon cart for $17.85 a month or a 96-gallon cart for $21.85 a month for the first year of the agreement, the proposal said. 

There will be no extra charge for recycling as its cost is built into the price of the trash stickers. Residents will not need to attach stickers to recycling containers.

Ward Two Alderman John Galan said he had received several letters from residents who were concerned with the anticipated switch to Veolia. Most of the letters were from residents worried about whether Veolia’s program would encourage recycling, he said.

One letter he referenced suggested the city should go with a service that provides recycling totes, such as ones the Allied Waste proposal said it would begin to offer.

Rich Van der Molen, of Allied Waste, spoke at Monday’s meeting and said recycling rates in Darien have declined since 2008 by 11 percent. He said Allied Waste collected 2,663 tons of recyclable material in Darien in 2010, versus 3,019 tons of recyclables in 2008.

Any residents who subscribed to Allied Waste’s proposed optional waste cart program would also receive a recycling cart, which he said would promote more recycling. 

Coren said that the city already has a very high recycling rate, which he believes would continue under Veolia because the system is virtually identical to Allied Waste’s current plan.

Forty-three percent of Darien households recycle, according to DuPage County’s 2009 waste removal report. The county average is 36 percent. Winfield Township had the highest rate with 97 percent. The next highest was Wheaton with 59 percent.

“The high rate [in Darien] is due to the sticker system that gives a direct incentive to recycle because recycling is free,” Coren said. 

Under Veolia’s plan, residents may continue to use the same 18-gallon blue plastic recycling containers that they used under Allied Waste, according to the Veolia agreement.

Residents can buy more containers for $8 a piece. Alternatively, they can supply their own recycling containers of any size as long as they clearly label them as recyclable waste.

The final details of the Veolia contract will be confirmed at a later date, Weaver said. Such details include the cost of an amnesty day when residents can leave out large loads of trash at a reduced rate, as well as the cost for fall leaf pickup. In its proposal, Veolia said the amnesty day would cost the city $75,000. Leaf collection would cost the city $45,000 for the first year, according to the bid. 

Some residents may need to adjust to a new trash pickup day, Coren said, but the city is working with Veolia to change as little of the schedule as possible.