Carroll’s renewal of annual trash disposal and recycling contract comes with 4% cost increase

Carroll County has agreed to continue it more than three-decade long contract for trash and recycling services with the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority — an independent state agency that

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners unanimously approved the annual contract with the authority in the amount of $180,966.26, which is about a 3.95% increase over the fiscal 2023 membership fee, according to Clifford J. Engle, bureau chief for Carroll County’s Department of Solid Waste.

Formed in 1980, the waste disposal authority is an independent state agency that assists the eight jurisdictions — Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Montgomery counties, and Baltimore City — with solid waste and recycling, Engle said. Carroll been a member since the 1990s.

“The authority is governed by a board of directors, comprised of a representative from each of the eight jurisdictions,” he said. “I represent Carroll County on that board, and I appreciate the support in doing that.”

Through membership, the authority procures, maintains and manages agreements for the transfer and disposal of trash, recyclables and household hazardous waste, and maintains and monitors the Northern Landfill, Hoods Mill Landfill and John Owings Landfill. Professional consulting services, contract management and specialized legal services are also provided on an as-needed basis.

“Through that membership, when we did rebid our waste and recycling contracts three, four years ago now, we saved by going in with other member jurisdictions on that procurement,” Engle said. “We saved in excess of $300,000 a year on the recycling contract versus going it alone. We also saved over $200,000 a year on [the] waste contract versus going it alone. So that’s been a very good, successful, valuable membership for the county.”

Commissioners approved the contract with little comment.

The amount of the contract is included in the county’s Solid Waste Enterprise Fund in the fiscal 2024 operating budget.

Trash management and removal is a costly requirement for the county. Due to rising costs to process trash at the Northern Landfill, on Baltimore Boulevard in Westminster, the tipping fees charged to dump garbage there increased on July 1. Tipping fees are paid by those who dispose of waste, based on weight.

The cost of dumping general household trash increased from $65 per ton to $66 per ton, and the charge for the disposal of construction and demolition trash jumped from $80 a ton to $82 a ton, according to a county news release.

Money collected from tipping fees goes into the county’s Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. The fund is used to pay for recycling, the management of solid waste, the transfer station and operating the Northern Landfill.

“Landfill operating costs associated with handling, processing and disposal or recycling of materials we accept have increased significantly over the last several years, in some cases dramatically,” Engle said in June. “These costs include, but are not limited to, replacement of aged vehicles and heavy equipment, fuel and maintenance for vehicles and heavy equipment, facility infrastructure maintenance and replacement, contract costs related to transfer and processing of waste and recyclables, utility rates and many others.

“We try to absorb as many cost increases as possible, however, at times we must adjust user fees to offset some of those cost increases like any business,” he said.

In fiscal 2023, Engle said in an email, the county handled 137,000 tons of trash at the Northern Landfill, and about 19,000 tons of recycling materials. The recycling includes household and commercial recyclables, scrap tires and yard waste.

Nearly half of the trash is buried at the landfill, and the rest is hauled to larger landfills in Pennsylvania.

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Carroll’s renewal of annual trash disposal and recycling contract comes with 4% cost increase