At February’s Working Session, the Board heard proposals regarding recyclables collected by the Township and how they are transferred and recycled. Abington is part of a consortium of townships that have banded together to find cost effective means of handling our recyclables, which recently solicited bids. The bid package showed signs of interest within the waste industry, but ultimately only two viable proposals were received- one from JP Mascaro (our current vendor), and another from Republic Services.
The link below will take you to the meeting agenda, which is accompanied by a technical document that dissects the bids in terms of scope, durations, and costs. It is a solid analysis, but really only focuses on the financial implications of the selection. Ultimately, it appears that Republic Services is the recommended vendor.
I am concerned by this. JP Mascaro, through their TotalRecycle venture (named in the proposal, read more about them here) has been our vendor for sometime, and has shown significant commitment to actually recycling our plastics- all of them. JP Mascaro has the technology to recycle FPP (Flexible Plastic Packaging), which includes items not previously considered recyclable, such as plastic bags, sandwich baggies, plastic wrapping, etc. By going with Mascaro, we stand to see more of our plastics recycled.
Although more cost effective in their 7 year proposal, Republic Services does not appear to have an ability to recycle FPP, the form of plastic more frequently encountered by most residents. Many of you emailed me in 2019 regarding this article, which is worth a reread, given that Republic is named in it. In essence, maybe we get what we pay for- lower cost, but less plastics actually recycled.
In terms of “what we paid for”… I also question the 7 year duration. Page 21 of the technical memorandum notes “JP Mascaro’s proposed pricing for the 5-year term is the best value, but very comparable to Republic Services’ proposed 5-year term pricing.” So, in the shorter term, comparable to Republic Services, but capable of recycling more material. Its also notable that the technology to recycle FPP is relatively new. In 5 years, we may find that the next round of bids is more competitive between multiple companies that all, at that time, might have the ability to recycle FPP.
We are one Township within the Consortium, but I am interested in your feedback on this one. Let me know your thoughts- go with the cheaper long term contract, or focus on the comparable short term contract in order to divert more plastics from landfills and incinerators. Email me at mthompson@abington.org.