Aging truck forces Vandergrift to can curbside recycling

Budget restrictions forced Vandergrift to end curbside recycling pick up earlier this month.

Instead, residents will have to take their glass and metals — plastics remain a no-go — to the borough garage at 600 Oak St. and deposit them in the appropriate bin.

These containers will be ready by Sept. 20 and open around the clock.

The recycling truck, according to borough officials, has accumulated enough wear and tear in its 20-plus years of service that it’ll no longer pass inspection without costly repairs.

“The truck we bought for $1,000 … we used it for 23 years, so we got our money’s worth out of it,” said Councilwoman Christine Wilson, who chairs the streets and sanitation committee.

Officials estimated that repairs would cost between $15,000 and $20,000. A new truck would have put Vandergrift out around $100,000.

Wilson added that, between maintenance, wages and other expenses, individual service was a major drain on finances. Payments from facilities that process these materials weren’t even enough to cover $3,000 in annual fuel costs.

The borough worker assigned to recycling has been moved to other tasks, like street repairs and grass cutting, Wilson said.

Until this month, Vandergrift was an outlier in the Alle-Kiski Valley when it came to recycling. Few communities offer door-to-door pickup, and the ones that do, such as New Kensington and Lower Burrell, charge residents.

Vandergrift residents enjoyed free service for years.

“I would have loved to kept it going if we could — and we could — but we would have to assess and charge the residents,” Wilson said.

After some discussion among council, members decided to avoid giving people another bill.

Some residents, like Rose Goins, are none too pleased with the change.

“I’m not hauling all that dirty stuff in my car,” she said.

Idan Novik, another resident, called the end of curbside collection a “big inconvenience.”

“I don’t think a lot of people will do it,” he said.

Pennsylvania requires municipalities to collect recyclables, and, under borough code, residents can face fines for mixing glass, tin and aluminum with trash.

In reality, about 80% of the town doesn’t recycle properly, per Wilson, and there’s no feasible way to enforce regulations on what waste goes where.

The borough garage is, however, monitored by security cameras.

Council President Tom Holmes stressed that this is simply a trial period and other options may be considered in the future.

“We had to do what was best for the borough so we’re trying this,” Holmes said. “It may not be the ‘end all’ thing.”