News

Message to Residents:

Laflin Borough Council publicly advertised for Refuse Collection Bids for a four-year contract term since its existing contract for these services was to expire on 1/31/2021.  Laflin Borough, however, only received bids from 2 refuse collectors who were interested in servicing our community.  Unfortunately, both bids received would result in a substantial cost increase for both refuse and recycling collections.  County Waste, a GFL Company, was the successful low bidder.  The bid proposal received from J.P. Mascaro & Sons, who handled collections for the borough for many years, was approximately $157,000 higher ($39,250 per year) than County Waste for the same four-year contract term.  Although being the responsible low bidder, County Waste, was still substantially higher than the Borough’s 2020 former contract at an additional cost of approximately $42,863 per year.  The result of this additional annual increase is that Laflin Borough will need to increase annual refuse rates by $50.

A substantial reason for the increased costs from refuse haulers is due to the market changes in the recycling industry.  The market demand for recycled materials has declined resulting in higher disposal costs for haulers.  Most local governments are struggling to adapt to this new reality as evidenced by some municipalities cancelling their respective recycling programs in their entirety or eliminating certain aspects of them such as glass recycling.  Laflin Borough remains committed to its existing recycling program and believes the impacts of it on the environment outweigh its recent additional costs.

Laflin Borough remains focused on controlling costs and mitigating any incremental costs it can.  Its approach has been successful over the years as evidenced by keeping its refuse costs and associated fees stable since 2008.  It should be noted that all aspects of its garbage and recycling program will continue uninterrupted for the next 4 years with a weekly allowance of 6 bags of trash, 1 monthly bulk item and biweekly recycling pick-up.  Note the recycling pick will now be every 2^nd week as compared to twice monthly in order to reduce the amount of time required for the storage of recycled material by residents.

Please contact the borough office regarding the new collection services or with any questions relating to this rate increase.   You can reach the borough at (570) 654-3323 or at LaflinBoro@comcast.net.

Mascaro will not be collecting refuse nor recycling today. Collections will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) for garbage, recycling and bulk items. Contact the borough office if you have any questions. (570) 654-3323

Starting February 1st, County Waste will be the borough’s garbage, recycling and bulk item collection contractor. CW will manually collect from the back of the trucks with garbage workers. Meaning, they will not be using the automated mechanical arm pick-ups as seen in other towns. You will continue to use your existing containers (if you do so now).

The four year contract was bid out with County Waste being the lowest responsible bidder. Although significantly less than Mascaro’s bid, County Waste still was much higher in cost than our current contract. Laflin Borough Council is still working on various ways to keep the the 2021 Refuse Fee increase at a minimum. One way will be to use a surplus in Refuse Fund. More information will follow later this month.

The printed collection calendar will be delayed until later this month since we have a new contractor. However, everything will be the same in regards to Tuesday Collections; 6 garbage bags; recycling on the 1st & 3rd of the month; and bulk items (no TVs or computers).

More information will follow later this month.