Amherst looking at options for trash disposal and costs as area landfills close.
AMHERST – Amherst officials want to talk trash, and on Oct. 19 they're inviting community members to join them.
The Recycling and Refuse Management Committee wants to talk about how trash is disposed of now as well as look at how to handle it in the future.
“We want to be transparent as we go through how to solve some of the challenges,” said Susan M. Waite, the recycling coordinator.
Those challenges include what do with the trash and how to pay for its disposal without continuing to tap the reserves from the enterprise fund. The fund now pays for solid waste disposal.
While the town’s two landfills are closed, it still operates a recycling and transfer station where it collects trash and hauls it
to landfills in South Hadley and Northampton.
But the landfill in Northampton is slated to close next year.
South Hadley, meanwhile, received permission from the state to expand vertically, which would delay closure of the dump, she said.
The enterprise fund is in financial difficulty because the town stopped collecting tipping fees paid by haulers to use Amherst’s landfills when they were closed. The town also has expenses for the maintenance of the capped landfills.
While the landfills don’t bring income at this point, officials are hoping to use one of them for a solar array.
Residents “ need to understand the constraints there we’re working under,” Waite said. And, they must look at options, including a change in the existing waste disposal fees, to fund the budget without continuing to draw on the reserves.
Residents who use the station now pay $75 for an annual sticker, and also pay $3 per bag. Businesses are charged a $100 annual fee, Waite said. Residents can also contract with a private trash hauler.
With changes on the horizon, “it makes us look at what do we want to do with trash in the future,” Waite said. “We need to think about waste we’re producing and where it’s going.”
At some point private haulers could take trash to landfills that are out of state because the tipping fees could be less. People might object to the carbon footprint created by that, she said.
And while there are no imminent changes “we want people to understand what’s on our plate and get some feedback,” Waite said.
The meeting will be held at Amherst Media, 246 College St. beginning at 7 p.m.