The town has a recycling challenge — after distributing a request for bids on a local recycling contract at the end of 2020, officials learned the cost of its three pick-up routes would nearly double.

With the cost of recycling in the current budget facing an increase from $550,000 to $1,019.290 million, the town negotiated a smaller increase from its current contractors, Pendergast and Oakridge, of $137,449 to continue weekly pick-ups for a period from November 1 through July 1, 2022.

Town ordinance requires that the routes be divided among a minimum of two vendors.

The bidding process was done after the town was approached by one of its contractors for an increase in fees. Since a municipality cannot approve such an increase without opening a bidding process, it had to go to bid. When the bids came in high, the town began negotiating with the vendors hoping to lower costs.

The $137,449 increase to $687,449 will mean that the town’s recycling pick-up line item in the budget will only increase by roughly 30 percent, as opposed to nearly 100 percent, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal told The Newtown Bee on October 25.

The Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council in a joint meeting October 20 held in closed session because it involved a municipal contract, adjourned from the executive session and unanimously approved the increase.

The action buys the town additional time to figure out the best long-term solution to recycling pick-up. That could mean ending municipally provided recycling pick-ups altogether, leaving residents to deal with private vendors for pick-up.

If pick-ups are no longer offered, the town would need to provide increased ability to drop off recycling at the transfer station by increasing operating hours.

“We can’t end curbside pick-up and not make changes at the transfer station,” said Rosenthal. “Logistically, the amount of additional vehicles would have to be dealt with.”

The town may also look at decreasing the weekly pick-ups to bi-weekly or monthly.

“There’s a good chance that curbside recycling will change come July,” Rosenthal said. “From a public policy stand point, it was too disruptive to end curbside now.”

Rosenthal said that 43 percent of Newtown households participate in recycling pick-ups. Newtown pays a monthly fee for every household.

There are many “moving pieces” to the issue of curbside recycling pick-up, Rosenthal said, including the fact that glass is coming out of single stream recycling since glass can contaminate plastic and paper recycling, and vice-versa.

“We have a lot of work to do before we can decide on the best path forward,” said Rosenthal.

Whatever the town does about recycling will be in the next budget that begins on July 1, which means the town has time to consider its options.

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.