Melissa Bailey Photo
Those new toters won’t appear at your door this April after all.
Three months after aldermen approved a 10-year agreement with RecycleBank to improve the city’s “embarrassing” recycling rate, the company still hasn’t signed the contract.
Financial difficulties appear to be stalling plans to roll in new trash toters and a new program that would reward New Haveners for recycling their trash.
While the city is ready to go with the reforms, its two partners have yet to come to an agreement with each other, said Rob Smuts, the city’s chief administrative officer.
The Board of Aldermen on Nov. 6 unanimously approved a plan to change New Haveners’ costly habit of dumping too many recyclables in the trash. The city’s recycling rate has dropped below 10 percent. The bill allows the mayor to enter into a contract with RecycleBank and Toter Incorporated to change the way the city recycles.
Under the new plan, the 96-gallon toters that New Haveners use for regular trash would be used for recycling instead. Each home would get a new, smaller toter for non-recycleable trash.
Recycling bins would be equipped with an RFID “chip” so that RecycleBank can reward each household for the amount that it recycles. (Click here to read more.)
The city originally hoped to roll out the new toters in April, but plans have been delayed, Smuts said.
“We certainly would not get all the toters out by the original timetable,” Smuts said. He said he’d have a better idea of the new timeline once a contract is signed.
RecycleBank still hasn’t signed the 10-year contract that the Board of Aldermen gave the city permission to enter into in November.
“RecycleBank is working to finalize their deals with their vendors before signing the contract with us,” Smuts said.
The delay comes because RecycleBank, which is charged with buying and delivering new trash toters, has yet to come to an agreement with the Toter company to purchase them, he said.
“Right now RecycleBank and the Toter company are still figuring things out,” Smuts said. “They are having some issues.”
RecycleBank spokeswoman Melody Serafino confirmed Wednesday that the deal has yet to be sealed, but declined to say why.
“RecycleBank and the City of New Haven are in the process of negotiating the terms of the partnership, but we are looking forward to finalizing everything in the coming weeks,” she said.
“It remains a great program,” said East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar, who proposed the reforms a couple years ago. “Hopefully we can pull the pieces together.”