Town of Warwick suspends curbside recycling; looks for new vendor
Warwick-There is no curbside recycling throughout the town and village of Warwick until further notice, according to Supervisor Michael Sweeton. Last month, the town put its recycling company on notice that it would exercise the 30-day release clause built into the contract if the company did not bring its service up to speed. Monday, according to Sweeton, Waste No More owner Carl Polichetti called him and said he could not collect the recycling any longer due to equipment problems. The town is now looking for both an emergency replacement and a new, permanent recycling hauler. Homeowners have complained that the service has been spotty at best since the town awarded the contract and began using Waste No More in January. The contract went out to bid as the old contract with Waste Management was coming to an end late last year. The town rebid the contract after receiving just one bid from Waste Management. The second time around, the town received three bids with Waste No More nearly half the price of the other two. Recycling has not run smoothly before this year either. Sweeton has said there were complaints about the service when Waste Management did the job. The town performed an extensive investigation into the new company's credibility before awarding the contract. There was no reason not to go with Waste No More, according to Sweeton. Everything checked out. But the town built in a quick release clause, which would allow them to break the contract with just 30 days notice. At the time, Waste Management officials said the cost of recycling was rising because of an increase in the amount of recyclables since the mandatory recycling took effect in the county. Equipment and manpower were blamed for the service failures since January. In the meantime, residents are encouraged to bring their recycling to the town's recycling center on DPW Drive, off King's Highway. The supervisor said pick-up will resume by Aug. 16, maybe sooner. "We will have somebody here by August 16 on an emergency basis," said Sweeton. "We faxed out proposals and should have responses here on Thursday (yesterday). If possible, we may have someone out there by Monday (8/9)." The town will then go out to bid for the permanent contract. All should be settled within 90 days but regular pick-ups should resume within a week. "We apologize to residents for this inconvenience," Sweeton said. "We are working hard to get the service restored as soon a