Mayor Says Recycle Bin Rejections Down in New Bedford [WBSM TV]

NEW BEDFORD — Mayor Jon Mitchell says there are no new developments in the dispute between the city and trash and recyclable collector ABC Disposal Service.

On his "Midweek with the Mayor" segment Wednesday on WBSM, Mitchell said that the number of refused recycle carts has been drastically reduced in the past two weeks.

In the first week of ABC's new policy of rejecting any bins that had non-recyclable or contaminated content, over 900 bins were rejected. That led to a back-and-forth between the city and ABC, after the mayor accused the trash collector of being in violation of the contract. however, on Wednesday, Mayor Mitchell said that the latest rejection numbers were less than 50.

The mayor reiterated that the city will not pay the increased fee that ABC has requested, due to higher recycling costs the company faces. The amount comes to around $45,000 a month. Mitchell said there is a signed contract between the city and ABC, and it wouldn't be fair to tell the taxpayers of New Bedford that they need to pay the company more money.

The mayor added that the city will continue to educate residents as to what is allowed and what items are not when it comes to the recycling bins.