Swampscott is looking to start automated trash and recycling pick up the week of July 27, and residents can now request additional recycling barrels. 

“I think the community is going to be surprised with how successful this is going to be,” Select Board Member Wayne Spritz said.

The town’s new five-year contract with Republic Services still needs final signatures after receiving approval from Select Board Chair Katie Phelan and Select Board Member Wayne Spritz. The previous contract expired June 30. 

The transition to automated collection is scheduled to begin July 20, according to Town Administrator Nick Connors, with the first automated pickup expected the week of July 27.

Automated collection has become the industry standard for waste and recycling services. Under the system, a mechanical arm on the collection truck lifts and empties carts without requiring workers to leave the vehicle.

“They’ll include a flyer with additional information in that stage of service, addressed in town, which will put us on track for the week of July 27 (for the start of automated pick-up),” Connors said.

The town meets on Wednesday, July 8 with Republic to confirm the timeline.

Instead of allowing multiple types of recycling bins, the town will transition to standardized carts designed for automated collection trucks. Residents will receive a 95-gallon recycling bin from the town. 

“There are a limited number of carts for smaller recycling, which would be the 65 gallon that we ordered,” Connors said. “The real goal is that for those with mobility issues and seniors, people who might have a hard time sort of maneuvering and pulling a larger one, if we run out of inventory, we are certainly open to ordering more, but we would like to get a picture of what those requests look like.”

Residents can fill out a form to request a smaller recycling bin at swampscottma.gov/trash.

Connors also noted that the town has been discussing a possible switch to every-other-week recycling pickup with Republic, which could impact the need for cart sizes.

“It’s not going to be a goldilocks idea of now that we’re going to every-other-week, anyone who had previously had a 65 now wants something larger, it’s not something we’ll be able to accommodate unfortunately,” Connors said, noting that residents would be able to pay for a larger bin at that point if needed.

The Select Board agreed to institute an every-other-week recycling pick-up schedule starting January 1.

Additional recycling bins would cost $100 for an every-other-week schedule, according to Spritz.

The week of August 10 is set for the first curbside pick up of old recycling barrels. Residents will also be able to drop off their old barrels at the Department of Public Works Yard during business hours in August. 

“The option will be re-use, dispose of through us, or figure out some other way,” Connors said. “The easiest way to do it obviously is curbside for most folks, but we want to give the opportunity if they miss that for whatever reason, want to continue to use it or just after the fact, they can recycle by dropping it off at the DPW as well. Our first hope would certainly be to re-use it for yard waste or something like that.”

Trash carts, on the other hand, will remain unchanged. Residents will be able to use their current 35-gallon trash carts with the new process. 

On Tuesday, the Select Board discussed a proposed $180 annual fee for a second barrel.

“The pricing of the $3 bag was instituted in 2020. Our trash overall costs have gone up almost 50% since then. We have not had a raise in the bag fee at all. The proposal is to go from $3 to $3.50 for the bag,” said Spritz. “Then that time 52 is $182, and the proposal is to go to one extra black 35-gallon trash barrel at $180 a year…We wanted to make sure we cover our costs for tonnage. The other part was we wanted to make sure we cover a small amount of service costs.”

Select Board Vice Chair Danielle Leonard suggested a slightly lower cost around $160, which is “covering tipping plus 10%.”

It was agreed at the end that the cost for an extra bin will be somewhere between $150 to $200. It will be discussed at the next Select Board meeting.

Carts must be placed at the curb by 7 a.m. with no items leaning against them. The arrows on the lid should face the street, with the handle facing the house. The carts should be one foot from the curb and three feet from other objects, such as mailboxes and trees.