The Town's current residential trash contract expires in the spring of 2025. Town staff begins the work now to assess the needs of our residents and homeowners, and decide if changes need to be made in the collection process of waste and recycling. We want to hear your thoughts! But first, in order to move forward, it’s important to understand how far we’ve come.

HISTORY

In 2016, the Trash & Recycling Committee was formed to tackle trash problems in town. There were a number of concerns:

• Residents had the choice of securing their own trash provider. While this was great to have the freedom to price shop, it had many drawbacks. Streets became overrun with different trash collection companies, driving around 24/7, all on different schedules. It was noisy, congested, and created excessive wear and tear on our streets.
• Without proper oversight, some residents decided not to pay for trash collection, and instead disposed of household waste in public trash cans. This resulted in many overfilled cans on street corners, and trash blowing around town.
• There was no mandatory valet service for rental properties. Cans were left in the public right-of-way by tenants for extended periods of time, overfilling with trash.

In the end, the committee recommended to the Town Council to enter a contract with a single-source vendor for residential properties (only one company would serve the town for residential trash and recycling). This vendor would provide cans for each property. Property owners who rented their home were required to secure valet service - this would prevent cans being left in the right-of-way, or not being put out for collection. In 2016, the bidding process for a single-source trash and recycling vendor yielded only one applicant. While the company has been bought out numerous times, we’ve continued with the original service contract. The changes that came about through the Trash & Recycling Committee greatly improved the issues related to trash.

CONSIDERATIONS

• Current pricing is as follows:
  • In Season (twice/week trash collection, once/week recycling collection): $31/mo basic; $47.12/mo valet
  • Off Season (once/week trash collection, biweekly recycling collection): $26.57/mo basic; $37.31/mo valet
• From the start of the trash contract in 2017 to 2024, pricing has increased a total of approximately $5 for each property.
• Currently, property owners may opt to cancel service temporarily when their home is not occupied.
• Arguably, Dewey Beach trash collection is not a sought-after contract. The amount of valet service, narrow, crowded/busy streets, and traffic congestion makes collection exceptionally difficult.
• In order to lower pricing, changes will likely need to be made. For instance, this could include fixed, yearly pricing for all properties, with no option to “opt out.”

Are you satisfied with current trash service options? Do you have concerns about the process for residential trash collection? Would you like to see changes? Let us know below. The Town Council may begin discussions on this topic as early as October of 2024. Your suggestions will be forwarded to the Town Council for review.