HARPSWELL — The Board of Selectmen awarded a one-year solid and recycled waste removal contract to Casella Waste Management, which provided the lowest of three bids for 2014 services.

Selectmen still have to approve the contract, which would take effect Jan. 1, after it has been drafted by the town and accepted by Casella.

The town has been using Casella’s services for the past four years. The contractor began hauling the town’s recycled waste in August, when a new single-stream recycling program started.

Based on figures from Casella, solid and recycled waste removal will cost the town about $118,000 for the 2014 calendar year, according to Transfer Station and Recycling Manager Fred Cantu.

Similar services from ecomaine and Waste Management could have cost the town up to nearly $140,000 and about $156,000, respectively, Cantu said.

Selectmen also had a less expensive option from Casella – about $8,000 less – but it would have allowed the contractor to decide how to dispose of solid waste, which could have included use of a landfill.

The more expensive option will guarantee the town’s waste will be disposed at a waste-to-energy plant.

“For $8,000 I don’t want to put more waste into a landfill,”Chairwoman Elinor Multer said.

Dylan Martin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 100 or dmartin@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DylanLJMartin.


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