In an effort to reduce spending and solid waste, the City of Goshen will begin residential curbside recycling in August of this year.
The City is entering into a new contract with Borden Waste-Away Service, which will provide a 96-gallon recycling bin to all residential sites of four units or less within Goshen, and will remove recyclables every two weeks.
Drop-off recycling sites administered by Elkhart County will continue at Goshen College and at the Elkhart Road/US 33 Martin’s Supermarket.
The new waste collection contract will also do away with unlimited trash removal services in Goshen. Non-recyclable trash material will need to be placed within a separate 96-gallon trash container, and will be removed weekly.
Tags for additional trash (beyond the 96-gallon trash bin) will be available for purchase at locations yet to be determined. Removal of large trash items, electronic waste, and purchase of additional trash services are also contracted to Borden, and will have an additional fee, which will be the responsibility of individual homeowners.
Residents will not have to pay to use the basic trash and recycling collection services.
Rising costs of solid waste removal over the past 7 years is the main reason for the change in the way the City deals with refuse. The City’s trash costs have risen steadily since 2016 from $800,000 to a projected $1.6 million in 2022. During that same period, household trash in Goshen also increased, from 1,774 pounds per year in 2014 to 2,340 pounds in 2021.
Without incentives to decrease trash generation, Goshen’s projected trash budget will rise over $2 million by 2023. City administration felt that the time to act had come.
“It is always exciting when you can add additional services to our community all while helping to build a more sustainable budget and benefitting our environment,” Mayor Jeremy Stutsman said. “I encourage City residents to take full advantage of this new service and help us divert solid waste from the landfill.”
By contracting for curbside recycling and limited trash pickup, the City can stabilize its trash removal costs for up to 10 years, instead of continuing on the path of a runaway budget. Additionally, curbside recycling should give more residents ready access to this service, which can reduce overall trash generation. Further benefits include recycling-related jobs within our community.
Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley, Director of the City’s Department of Environmental Resilience, said, “We’ve got to learn how to create less trash – trash removal costs were unsustainable – and now we are moving to a system that encourages us to waste less, rather than a system that said, ‘Go ahead, throw away everything you want, we’ll pay for it.’”
The City will work with Borden to create ongoing education throughout the City during the summer, in preparation for the change in trash removal operations.
Education will include what to recycle, what not to recycle, and how to access additional trash services. In July, the City’s “Maple City Now” newsletter will contain information about the new trash removal contract. For additional questions about this change, please contact the City Switchboard at 574-533-8621.
