City officials expect decision about recycling to be made in early August

QUINCY — A decision about the future of recycling in Quincy is expected to be made before early August.

That point was emphasized Wednesday night during public forum hosted by city officials that drew about 50 citizens to the Community Room of the Quincy Town Center.

Mayor Mike Troup, Director of Administrative Services Jeff Mays, Director of Public Works Jeffrey Conte and Assistant Director of Central Services John Schafer addressed people in attendance and answered questions.

“Absolutely, we’re keeping recycling,” Troup said.

In what form it will be kept will be decided in the coming weeks.

“We’re looking at what will be the most affordable way to do that,” Mays said. “There is no option to discontinue (recycling). None.”

The meeting, which lasted a little more than an hour, spelled out three likely options.

• Maintaining the status quo, with once-a-week pickups. There are currently 5,910 customers who pay $5 a month for recycling curbside pickups. The $5 fee could be increased.
• Change to biweekly pickups of recyclable items. This would save about $250,000.
• Discontinue pickups and have citizens take their recyclables to bins at specific sites around the city. This would save about $710,000.

One option will be presented to City Council by the Central Services Committee. At least eight of the 14 aldermen were in attendance.

City officials noted recycling is a city program that always has operated in the red, but ongoing problems with heightened fuel costs and overall skyrocketing inflation have increased costs to the point where a new approach to provide such a service is needed.

“We’re at a point when (this kind of) input can make a difference,” Mays said.

The recycling program is forecast to lose more than $317,000 in fiscal year 2023 after losing almost $254,000 in fiscal year 2022. The program lost more than $282,000 in fiscal year 2021 and nearly $243,000 in fiscal year 2020.

Schafer said the biweekly pickups would permit such money-saving measures as eliminating two of the four city employees responsible for recycling, plus reducing fuel and maintenance costs. Troup noted no individuals would lose any jobs. The city workers in question would be reassigned to other areas in need of assistance.

Conte said if option No. 3 was to be utilized, drop-off sites would be located in the north, central and southern areas of the city. Materials accepted at these sites would be paper, cardboard and other fibers, plastic containers, metal cans and glass containers.

“Where these sites would be have not yet been identified,” Conte said.

City officials said some form of assistance for the elderly and physically challenged would be developed for the drop-off plan to be successful. 

City officials also noted all three of the trucks used for recycling pickups are between 8-10 years old, and all need to be replaced in the next few years. The cost for such a measure would be $930,000 ($310,000 per vehicle). The waiting period for such equipment is currently two years.