A Few Questions For…Eric Fredericksen, USA Waste & Recycling

A proposal to change the way Amherst renters and homeowners recycle, compost, and throw out their trash is snaking its way through Town Council. Co-sponsored by Zero Waste Amherst and a mix of town councilors, the proposal as presented would do this by adding a competitive bidding process and the hauler contracting with the town, and by reducing the amount of trash residents create by incentivizing less use of trashy stuff and more use of compost hauling services, as compost has been found to comprise as much as 50% of what we throw out.

The only garbage trucks we see around here are emblazoned with the USA hauling and recycling logo, so it is understandable that the company would prefer business as usual here, with little or no change.

Why is the proposal is taking so long to go through the council’s serpentine procedures, and why is there talk of a move to scotch the key financial component, i.e. the competitive bidding process?

The Indy asked USA for help us understand the issues here and promptly received the following written response to our questions from Eric Fredericksen, Director of Operations for USA Waste & Recycling.

Amherst Indy: There have been some requests from Amherst residents for pay-as-you throw (PAYT) pricing to reduce the amount of trash that residents produce, and for pick-up of compost, partly to reduce the amount of trash and partly to return clean compost to the soil. From what I’ve seen, your company is against both proposals. Would you be willing to provide either of those services or both?

Eric Fredericksen: Given our experience and commitment to sustainability, we view “pay-as-you throw” bag models (“PAYT”) as outdated. With our automated collection and varying sized carts at different pricing levels, we currently incentivize the reduction of refuse through our service provided to Amherst residents.

A PAYT bag program layered on top is redundant and not a sustainable practice. We understand that several communities in the area employ a PAYT system, but few, if any, have the option of downsizing their curbside cart like the residents of Amherst currently do through USA. The Town of Amherst’s Transfer Station charges $3.00 per bag (plus the permit fee) to dispose of refuse. Using $3.00 per bag under a PAYT system, a family of four using 1-2 bags per week would be charged an additional $156.00 to $312.00 per year. Furthermore, PAYT bags are often thick petroleum-derived plastic bags. A PAYT system, while well-intended to reduce waste, simultaneously promotes further reliance on plastics. This runs contrary to Amherst’s climate change reduction goals and USA’s approach to waste reduction and diversion. 

We fully support composting and have offered a curbside residential organics/food scraps collection program in Amherst for over five years. Our service includes a third bin, which is collected biweekly and sent to Martin’s Farm in Greenfield. We have recently re-marketed the service to our customers and found that many Amherst residents who are not subscribing to this service are utilizing backyard compost, the Amherst transfer station for drop-off, or the other private organics/food scrap collection companies.

Because we do view organics/food scraps as a potential area for continued diversion, we welcome any opportunity to work with Amherst to further promote organics/food scraps collection. We have experience with centralized drop off locations and other cost-effective practices for the town to increase accessibility to organics/food scraps collection.

Indy: Residents have been upset at USA’s fee increases over the last few years. But you have a virtual monopoly on trash hauling and recycling services here — and if you had to bid for the job and contract with the town, it would be harder to change your fees. Are you opposed to or OK with competitive bidding? And are you opposed to or OK with contracting with the town?

Fredericksen: There are over five licensed haulers in the Town of Amherst, so the assertion of a monopoly is not correct. [Editor’s note: According to the Town of Amherst website today, USA Waste and Recycling is the only residential trash hauler licensed in Amherst. See one trash company licensed in Amherst.] These haulers all have the ability to compete for market share based on price and service offerings, and would offer such pricing if the market could sustain it. Our rates are competitive both within Amherst as well as with surrounding communities. Additionally, during the last few years we have seen historic levels of inflation which have impacted the costs of service. For example, the cost of our trucks went up nearly 50% and fuel pricing hit historic highs in recent years.

USA and its affiliates have contracted for decades with public entities for curbside collection and currently services dozens of communities in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut under municipal contracts. With regards to any RFP [Request for Proposal], we would not commit to a response until details of such RFP are known.

Indy: Briefly, what’s so special about the Murphy Road MRF (aka All-American MRF in Berlin, Connecticut, owned by USA Hauling & Recycling), which transforms Amherst residents’ recycling? What shape are plastics in after getting the All-American MRF treatment? Where do they go from the [Murphy Road] facility?

Fredericksen: Murphy Road Recycling has recently commissioned the largest and most state-of-the-art material recovery facility (“MRF”) in the nation in Berlin, Connecticut. It was just named the 2023 MRF of the Year by the National Waste and Recycling Association. This facility, the All American MRF, is capable of processing 1,250 tons of recyclables per day, receives recyclables from the I-91 corridor (from New Haven, Connecticut to Greenfield, Massachusetts), and has a recyclables recovery rate of over 98%. The facility boasts 11 optical sorters, a robot, solar paneled roof, and AI/machine learning capabilities. (see video here).

It processes and sorts the recyclable materials into commodities of unparalleled quality, allowing Murphy Road Recycling to sell the recyclable commodities to premium markets both domestically and internationally, ensuring that the commodities are sold to be remade into the highest use possible.

Furthermore, the All American MRF has technology allowing it to capture and separate for recycling glass (made into new glassware or used as an additive to concrete which results in 80% less carbon intensive concrete production); black plastics (a laser is installed which allows optical sorting machines to accurately separate out black plastics); and #5 plastics or polypropylene (yogurt containers, cold coffee cups and lids, and many other consumer plastics that were previously thought of as single use). Other facilities in the region are not currently capable of sorting and sending to market for recycling glass, black plastics, and #5 plastics. In short, the All American MRF allows USA and its customers to recycle more and divert more than ever before.

Indy: I’ve been reading that packaging with the Number 2 recycling symbol has been found to release PFAS because of a process called “fluorination” and that it might be outlawed soon. Is that true?

Fredericksen: While we certainly divert from disposal Number 2 plastics through our recycling infrastructure, we are not the producers of this packing and wouldn’t be in a position to comment on the likelihood of its continued [manufacture].